| Ruth 3 - 26 October 2008
Andrew Lim
Ruth is not in a good place / still / in this part of our story
She has suffered much grief
- the famine / the death of her husband
- the death of a son / then the death of another son
- her daughter-in-law leaving and returning to Moab
- the poverty / the loss of a family line / and an uncertain future
She went to Moab to get food with her husband
but her world caved in on her
and she sinks so low she does not want her own name anymore
She is oppressed by what she’s received from God
She sees hopelessness ahead
She recognises the sovereign hand of God
She knows it is the Lord Who has dealt bitterly with her
Did you realise that she does not go gleaning with Ruth
Ruth would’ve appreciated her company in the fields
if for company / then for protection there’s strength in number
She stays home / she’s still grieving / still angry at God
- probably still seeing God as her adversary
remember she says in 1:13, 20
“The hand of the Lord has gone forth against me
the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."
Then in the first part of chapter
Ruth asks for permission to go out and look for food
And the Lord directed her feet into the field of a wealthy and kind man
- and Boaz treated her most kindly
- commended her for her kindness to her mother-in-law
-invited her to sit at table with him for lunch
- told his workers to look out for her welfare and protection
And we read that Ruth has had a highly successful day
gleaning in Boaz’s field
Ruth has received much favour that afternoon / but she does not lose her head
Neither does she become lazy or slothful
just because Boaz has made things easier for her
Instead she continues to work diligently until the evening
On top of that / she does not forget that her mother-in-law
might have had nothing to eat all day that day
and she does not forget to set aside a portion of food for Naomi / v.18
It is now the end of a long laborious day
but she stays back / beats out the grains from the sheaves
threshes them out / and bundles them together in her shawl
And at the end of that day / Ruth has gleaned about an ephah of barley
- that’s about 30 pounds in our terms
- and that is enough for her and Naomi to live off for a whole week
- and he invites her to come back everyday
for the entire harvest season
We see such a powerful radical reversal of fortune in Naomi’s life
All in the course of a day!!
Simply because Ruth got up in the morning / and says
“Let me go out into the field to glean”
Only in that same morning / Ruth had said to Naomi in 2:2
“Please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain
after him in whose sight I might find favour”
And how that same day has ended
We never can tell how an ordinary day can turn out
- it starts as an ordinary day
when the day closes you’ve lost your job
- it starts as an ordinary day
when the day closes / ………
If we do not believe that God orders every event
in working out his purposes / you will go start staring mad
There are no accidents in this life
There are no coincidences of this life
You think it is your boss / who has robbed you of your job
You have no idea / it is God who moves in his heart to make that decision
Remember Proverb 16:9 says
“A man's mind plans his way / but the Lord directs his steps”
And Proverbs 21:1 / “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD
Like the rivers of water / He turns it wherever He wishes”
If God directs the hearts of kings and queens
the heart of your boss at work is nothing to Him
We need to remember that no one
absolutely no one can do anything to us / that God has not sanctioned
God is totally sovereign over what people may do to us
Joseph’s brothers acted spitefully and maliciously against him
- they sold him into slavery
- Potiphar’s wife acted viciously against him
- he ended up being thrown into prison
But years later / Looking at his brothers in the eyes / Joseph said
“It wasn’t you who sent me here / but God” / Ge 45:8
It was God / Who guided Ruth’s feet / into that particular field
But let me go back to the story
It is the close of the day / Ruth must hurry home
Ruth would have been tired when she returned
she had gotten up early in the morning
perhaps arriving in the field before any of the reapers had arrived
She has spent all that day bending down and picking up stalks
she has now completed her reaping / but her work is not done yet
She has to take the stalks of barley and beat them on the ground
to separate the kernel from the husk
and then sweep up all the grain
Then she has to sift the grain
so all the husks and debris would be separated
And finally /she has to gather all the sifted grain and put it into a sack
That sack weighed an ephah / that’s about 25 pounds
and she probably then put that sack over he shoulder
and walked all along the country path / back into the City.
She finally arrives home / probably dark by then
She is greeted by her mother-in-law
who perhaps is also very tired at the end of the day
She opens up the sack / and let the grain spill out from her shawl
to the rough-hewn table top
And Naomi sees not just a meagre handful of grain
picked up from the field / but a huge 25 lb sack of barley
which can be ground and made into bread
Naomi’s jaw must have nearly hit the floor / for that must have been
at least a couple of weeks worth of wages in grain
Ruth has hit the jackpot!
But Ruth has something more than that huge sack of grain
she has a doggy bag / and Naomi must have been grateful
for perhaps / she has had nothing to eat all day
Remember Boaz extended to her roasted grain
and she had eaten until she was satisfied
and then she had some left over
Naomi looks on in disbelief / she cannot believe her eyes
- she run her coarse fingers through he grains
- she lifts some of it up and let it trail thorough her fingers
- tears filled her eyes
“The Lord has visited His people” she thought
“Where did you glean today? And where have you worked?”
Ruth begins to speak of this certain kind man / but even before she
could identify the kind man / Naomi starts to bless the man
“Blessed be the man who took notice of you” / 2:19
Naomi knows that this bountiful harvest
could not have been the fruits of gleaning alone
- someone must have given the provision
Then Ruth reveals his name / saying
“The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz”
Now / this is the first time that his name / has graced her lips"
At this point the full worth of this name / is concealed from her
She mentions him in passing now / but the time will come
when that name will be the name that will finally charm her forever
And as soon as Naomi hears the name Boaz
a for the first time in many years now / a smile comes to her face
her heart leaps / and her faith revives
She grasps the whole picture almost immediately / and cries out
v. 20 / “May he be blessed by the LORD
whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”
Then she turns to Ruth / and says to her:
“Do you not know / this man is a relative of ours / 2:20
but he's more than an ordinary relative
He’s one of those who has the right to redeem us
He’s able by blood relationship to redeem your father-in-law's estate
He can continue the family name
If he chooses to he can fulfil his duty to your dead husband
by marrying you”
Ruth did not know that / that this man into whose field / God directed her feet
can do for them / what they could not do for themselves
Why? Because Boaz turns out to be a relative of Elimelech
Naomi’s long-deceased husband
They had thought that there was no one for Ruth and Orpah to marry
to carry on the line of their husbands
But now the whole story takes on a very strange turn
Now / just what is happening here
- what’s all this talk about a kinsman-redeemer
- what’s all this talk about redeeming people and property
In ancient Israel / when God called His people to be a nation
He made provision for His people / for their security and welfare
We read about that both in Deuteronomy 25 and Leviticus 25
Boaz is what is called a “kinsman-redeemer”
In those days / when a male relative dies / and leaves a widow behind
a kinsman-redeemer is the man who would provide for the widow
- if her deceased husband owed a debt
the kinsman-redeemer would pay the debt
- if a man loses his property
the kinsman-redeemer could redeem it and buy it back / Lev 25:23-34
- if he has children sold into slavery because of his debt
the kinsman-redeemer would buy her children back
- if she has enemies / the kinsman-redeemer would protect her
- and if she has been left childless
the kinsman-redeemer would marry her
and their first child would inherit the land of the deceased
- if a family lost their father through death
a close relative / a brother / or if there was no brother
another relative / could bring up the children
and continue the family name within the household / Deut 25:5ff
In fact the also gives provision
the widow could sue him before the elders of the city
that if the close relative did not wish to do so
And Naomi and Ruth are in that place of grave need
for someone to can deliver them / from poverty
from the loss of a family-line / from isolation and defeat
This is why when Naomi hears that it is in Boaz's fields
Ruth has been gleaning / she breaks out with this great note
v. 20 / “May he be blessed by the LORD
whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”
Now / just whose kindness it is / that Naomi referring to here?
Is it Boaz’s kindness or the Lord’s kindness?
The Hebrew doesn’t help us here / it is almost intentionally ambiguous
But we can discern from the text
that Naomi is thinking of the Lord’s kindness
She now comes to see the goodness of the Lord
She recognises her mistake in doubting God’s goodness and love
She now comes to see that the Lord is indeed kind
and this act of grace / turns Naomi from doubting to believing
It turns her from a woman of despair and despondency
into an exuberant and optimistic person
The sky has opened up again for Naomi
The wheels of Naomi’s mind are already turning
She is hopeful that Boaz will exercise his right to redeem Ruth
Naomi comes to see that the Lord had not abandoned her after all
God takes a bitter old woman like Naomi and breathes new life into her
For the first time in this book / Naomi is praising god
We see a stark reversal of fortune here
In chapter 1 there is famine / In chapter 2 God lifts the famine
In chapter she goes to Moab / In chapter 2 she’s back in Bethlehem
In chapter her husband and sons die
In chapter 2 / Her daughter-in-law proves to be devoted and loving to her
At the end of the chapter 1 / Naomi says to the people of Bethlehem
“I went away full / and the Lord has brought me back empty
The Lord has dealt bitterly with me”
At the end of chapter 2 / Naomi says
“The Lord has not forsaken the living and the dead”
Previously / Naomi talks of emptiness / now she is aware of fullness
Previously / Naomi talks of bitterness / now she is aware of blessedness
She has moved from bitterness to blessedness
Now she is freely given this abundant provision
Now there is bread in the home
Now the favour of the Lord is on her again
You may be experiencing some grievous setback
but God is even now composing a song
that one day you will in with all your heart
God is in a process of working things our in our lives
He says / in Jeremiah 29:11 / “I know the plans that I have for you
plans for welfare and not for calamity
to give you a future and a hope”
There / in that provision that Ruth brought home this evening
Naomi sees God's unfailing kindness
his absolute faithfulness to his covenant people
Although Naomi drifted far away from Him
God remained the faithful God of Naomi
When all around Ruth and Naomi is nothing but poverty and hopelessness
God can still be trusted
When everyone is screaming “Don’t trust God / He can’t be trusted”
It gives me great confidence to believe that even when all around me
everything is falling to pieces
God is working out a good purpose for me
God has my welfare utmost in His heart
God can be trusted
It doesn’t matter what we face
all the god and the bad are woven in the hands of God
for bring good welfare into our lives
and this plan of His can never be derailed
Job 42:2 / “I know that You can do all things
and no purposes of Yours can be thwarted
If you come under His wings and be found the
you’re found in the safest place in the world
Ps 46 / “God is our refuge and strength / a very present help in trouble
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea
though its waters roar and foam
though the mountains tremble at its swelling”
What is your soul experiencing? / bitterness or blessedness?
- Are you grieved by recent events in our life
- Have you been disappointed / at the way
events have turned out the way they have?
Our God will always remain faithful to us
2 Timothy 2:13 / “Even if we remain faithless
He remains faithful / He cannot deny Himself”
He wants to lift the bitterness from your heart / He wants to bless you
The psalmist experienced this
He says / “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing
you have put off my sackcloth / and clothed me with gladness” Ps 30:11
And this should amaze us
that God should be so gracious to us
that God should remain faithful to bless us
even when we turn our backs on Him again and again
And this is exactly the way Ruth feels
Ruth asks Boaz / “Why have I found favour in your eyes
that you should take notice of me / a foreign woman”
She feels most unworthy
It is this trait finally that defines humility
A truly humble man does feel he is entitled to anything
- he does not feel he’s entitled to special treatment
- he does not feel he is entitled to be recognised
entitled to be accorded respect
entitled to be treated with special honour
entitled to be reward
And this / is such a rare attitude / even among Christians
It is tragic
that most of us / and plagued with a sense of entitlement
and this ugly / ungodly / unhealthy sense of entitlement
is one key ingredient
in the recipe for a disastrous and painful church break-up
People get hurt when they don’t put a check / on their sense of entitlement
- people feel / that they are entitled to this / to that
- they feel they are owed this
- they feel they are entitled to this
and they should have it / because this is owed to them
And this / is the one huge reason / why people get into trouble
with one another and with the leadership / in church
- this ugly spirit of entitlement
Ruth comes from such a different place
She was amazed that he should treat her so graciously
And it would all of us a world of good / if / periodically
we will ask ourselves / “Lord / why have I found favour in your eyes
that you should take notice of me
And then allow the Spirit of God / to humble you
to come up with a Christ-exalting / God-honouring answer
For is that not the way we feel / before a gracious and forgiving God
Can we ever cease to be amazed by what he has done for us
that He should ever see us as the apple of his eyes
We who are sinners / strangers / aliens
We are by nature rebels / and deserving nothing but His wrath
So we need to ask:
“Why is it Lord / that your amazing grace should find me out?”
But there is a vital lesson we can learn from Boaz’s answer to Ruth
When Ruth falls on her face / bows to the ground / and says to Boaz
“Why have I found favour in your eyes
that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” 2:10
Boaz answered her / “All that you have done for your mother-in-law
since the death of your husband has been fully told to me
and how you left your father and mother and your native land
and came to a people that you did not know before
The LORD repay you for what you have done
and a full reward be given you by the LORD the God of Israel
under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 2:11,12
Read it carefully and you will see that this is NOT Boaz’s favour
She is asking Boaz / “Why are you showing me favour”
And Boaz says in reply / “the LORD repay you for what you have done”
Yes / the favour is expressed by Boaz / but it is NOT his favour
Boaz is an instrument / through whom / GOD shows Ruth favour
It is the Lord / Who is the One showing favour to Ruth through Boaz
It is the Lord who brought the famine to an end
It is the Lord who make the wheat to grow in great abundance again
It is the Lord who guided the feet of Ruth to the right field
It is the Lord who enabled Boaz to show favour to Ruth
But why? Why would God show her any favour?
The Word makes it very clear
God rewards Ruth for no other reason than this
Ruth chooses to look for refuge under God’s wings.
Ruth has said to the LORD the God of Israel
“Under your wings / I have come to take refuge”
I will leave my Moabite idols / I will no longer bow before them
It is You alone / that I now make my God
- to You alone I offer my worship
Ruth chooses to set her heart on trusting Yahweh over her Moabite deity
and for this / God will show her mercy
And it is the same today
Whenever anyone comes to God / and says to Him
I am no longer going to try to fend for myself
I am going to willingly come under your wings
I am looking to you only for my security / my future / my life
Whenever someone comes to God and says this to Him
God will show this person favour
Psalm 57:1 / “Be merciful to me / O God / be merciful to me
for in thee my soul takes refuge
in the shadow of thy wings I will take refuge”
Its as if the psalmist is saying “Be merciful to me
because I am taking refuge under the shadow of your wings”
This weekend / I am praying for someone
who is having to make a heart-wrenching decision
- it is a decision that will cut him up and leave him bleeding
he is having to choose between obeying God / or disobeying Him
he will have to say “No” to the love of his heart
because saying “Yes” would clearly be an act of disobedience
he knows that if he follows his own heart / he will be happy
but he also knows
that he will be moving out of the wingspan of God’s favour
and if he does not take refuge under God’s wings
he will ultimately not be safe and his three children with him
The safest place you can be / in to be under God’s wings
and to quietly take your refuge there / even if that must mean
having to be cut up and be left bleeding
None of us will ever know how Ruth is left bleeding / when she chooses
to leave her own god / her own people / her own culture / her own land
and to leave her own homeland Moab / to Bethlehem
in order to come under the wings of Naomi’s God
But in finding refuge in God / she has found the safest place
Are you in the safest place you can be this morning?
Are you in the process of making repeated choices / one after another
to some under the wings of God
Or are you outside the wings of His protection?
Nothing is worth that!
There is nothing so gratifying you can’t sacrifice
for to be found in the safest place / in this whole wide world
The closing verse of this chapter / is a cliff-hanger kind of an ending really
It simply says in v. 23
“So she kept close to the young women of Boaz
gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests
And she lived with her mother-in-law”
It tells us that Ruth goes in daily into the field of Boaz
to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest
You know Ruth has come to be acquainted with the lord of harvest
and she found him good / kind / full of everything that she want
But you know what / she is still not related to him
And it's possible for you and for me to be under the grace of God
and to taste the good things He has kindly given you
and yet not come to know Him yourself
You must remember that at this point of the story
Ruth is still an alien / a foreigner
She still has no inheritance in Judea
She still has none of the promises
Ruth’s been given many good things by the Lord of the harvest
but she’s not related to the lord of the harvest yet
and when the end of the barley harvest draws to a close
if she is still not related to the lord of the harvest
she will have to leave his field / for the very last time
I wonder where you are this morning
Are you just enjoying the company of other Christians / reapers
and tasting the goodness and sweetness of the Lord
and yet you've never been related to him
never become part of His bride
you’re contented to remain a gleaner
How sad this is / for one day you'll come to the end of the barley harvest
and you have to leave the field / for it will be bolted tight from you
Has there been a day that you can look to in your mind and say
"That was the day when I surrendered my life to the Saviour"
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