Ruth 2 REVIEW Last week we began our study of the Book of Ruth

Ruth 2REVIEWLast week we began our study of the Book of Ruth

It is a very beautiful story….

It is a very human story….

Filled with PATHOS and LOVE…

But we noted last week that it is in the MIDST of the HUMANITY of the book we find God EVERYWHERE….

the Name of God 23 times in 85 verses!

LISTEN GUYS – God wants you as an individual to know, and Metro CORPORATELY to know that

THAT is EXACTLY where God WANTS to be…

He WANTS to be… all over the pages of our lives

He WANTS us to KNOW that He is … all over the pages of our lives

When I grew up, the impression I was given concerning God was that

He was VERY BIG….

VERY DISTANT…..

VERY IMPERSONAL.

I was living under the impression that He was

Only INTERESTED in ---- and ACCESSIBLE to VERY FEW people…..

who were by virtue of their religious efforts, worthy of His interest and involvement (Mother Theresa types)

THAT is one of the biggest lies of Satan

If he cant get you to buy into the lie of “There is no God.”….

he will try to get you to buy into the lie that IF there is a God…… you have to

EARN His LOVE….

EARN His INVOLVEMENT in your life…

EARN your ACCESS to Him.

THAT was the lie I bought into…

And THAT is why -- when the guy who led me to faith in Jesus said – Richard, I KNOW God…. I about fell out of my chair!

We have in our hands THE REVELATION OF GOD TO MAN…. We call it the Bible.

Here in this little book of Ruth we find GOD….

NOT DISTANT….

NOT OUTSIDE of the affairs of mankind.

INSTEAD - We find Him

SOVEREIGNLY….

Which = acting independent of anything outside of Himself… He does what He does because it is in HIS heart to do it

GRACIOUSLY…. Which = God doing for us what we DON’T deserve

We find Him SOVEREIGNLY and GRACIOUSLY become INVOLVED in

The personal history of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz And through them- the history of a nation…. Israel And through Israel - The history of humanity

WE SAW LAST WEEK that from a human vantage point these two women were FAR from deserving of His attention and care.

Naomi…. Who in unbelief left the House of Bread and the Place of Praise to find food and water in a place that God called “His trash can.” There her husband and two sons die

Ruth – a Moabite…. a Gentile

THE REASON we find God there is because THAT is EXACTLY where He LONGS to be

It is WHERE we find Him in the Book of Beginnings (Genesis)….

Walking WITH man in the Garden.

Then amazingly…. After the FALL of man in the Garden….

We watch God as He SOVEREIGNLY and GRACIOUSLY decides to PERSONALLY step into His fallen world.

Actually chose to forever be with us in our Humanity

Matt. 1:23 The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

There in the Gospels we SEE Him…..

AS A MAN…. As our KINSMAN….

And through His death on the Cross we see Him

REDEEM His fallen creation

RECONCILE and RESTORE man back to fellowship with Himself.

And the story doesn’t end there - The Bible declares that our Kinsman Redeemer will come to this earth a SECOND time

And when He comes the Second time He will sit upon the throne of Ruth’s great grandson, David

From which He will rule the world for 1,000 years.

The Book of Ruth is SO AMAZING in that within the scope of it’s 85 verses we see ALL of these truths playing out.

God is STILL breaking into the human realm to REDEEM and RESTORE.

He wants us to KNOW that and BELIEVE that!

We don’t have to try sell Him… or advertise Him.

YESTERDAY – As we worshipped our Emmanuel, and as we studied His Word, I saw one woman just weeping

The Lord spoke to my heart –

Just let Me Work, Richard.

Give people the opportunity to worship Me…. I’ll be there… It’s Who I am!

Teach My Word….. I’ll be there…. It’s Who I am!

We left off last week with Ruth…. a gentile raised in a pagan culture…..

Making a RADICAL COMMITMENT of FAITH…

Making a RADICAL COMMITMENT to BURN HER BRIDGES to Moab and her old life lived after other gods

And to follow Naomi back to the Bethlehemjudah…..

The House of Bread and the Place of Praise.

We noted that Ruth made this decision because of the BEAUTY OF BROKENESS that she in Naomi

There are some people who are still living in “Moab” if-you-would…. because they have concluded that God is the God of the "Together Person"  

"Christianity is for YOU because you're so together" 

”I'm NOT very together… in fact my life is broken…. , so Christianity must not be for me"

 We need to be REAL

I WONDER - Why is it that we try to come across as so together when we KNOW that we are far from it?

The world MUST see that it is NOT our togetherness but God's graciousness 

When Naomi -- "Miss Pleasant" was humbled and broken is when Ruth said

Please don’t ask me to leave youWhere YOU go is WHERE I want to beI want YOUR God to be MY God and YOUR PEOPLE to be MY PEOPLE.

"I want to relate to your God who is so gracious to you in your brokeness”

Naomi became a great example of the very thing taught by Paul in the New Testament 

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

When you try to impress people with how together YOU are, people are NOT looking at the treasure

BUT - When we are REAL and BROKEN….. THAT is when people say - "I want to go with you”

SO - Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem

1And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

Boaz wasn’t even mentioned in Chapter 1

Ruth doesn’t even know he exists.

But once he is introduced things move swiftly.

In ch.2 Ruth is in his field.

In ch.3 Ruth is at his feet.

In ch.4 Ruth is in his family.

a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.

Boaz is an IMPRESSIVE man

Looking at his PEDIGREE, he comes from the tribe of Judah

Looking at his POSTERITY, from him comes David, the greatest king of Israel UNTIL the King of king comes

He was such an impressive man, that when his great great grandson Solomon would build the Temple in Jerusalem, Solomon named one of the two great pillars to the Temple after Boaz, because the name Boaz means STANDING IN STRENGTH (1 Kings 7:21)

Indeed, Boaz STOOD IN STRENGTHG

He STOOD TOUGH in time of famine

He STOOD TRUE to the Lord when every man did that which was right in his own eyes

Good PEDIGREE... God POSTERITY..... BUT more than that, He is also a picture in PROHECY 

In verse 20 we will see Boaz referred to as a NEAR KINSMAN which in the Hebrew is ga-al (gaw-al)

In the KJV this word is translated: redeem 50, redeemer 18

This concept is rooted in Leviticus 25 

SO here is Boaz –

- He loves God

- He loves his fellow man

- He is wealthy

- He is kind

AND…… He is single!

“the most eligible Bachelor in Bethlehem!”

Reality TV – Bachelor Bethlehem!

2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 3And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.KEY OBSERVATION: Though grieving, Naomi and Ruth knew life had to go on.

Christian – If you haven’t figured it out yet…. THIS is NOT heaven!

We WILL get sick

We WILL lose loved ones…

We WILL suffer loss.

But we MUST CONTINUE.

HOW does one continue?

THE THEME of this section is LIVING IN FAITH.

Here we see Ruth… brand new in her commitment to the Lord… provide for us a WONDERFUL picture of what it means to LIVE BY FAITH.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: FAITH IS NOT something merely intellectual or emotional

The Scriptures teach us that FAITH means LIVING in what God has declared.

It is lining our lives up with the Word of God.

It is LIVING as though what God has SAID is really true.

THAT is exactly what Ruth is going to do.

She and Naomi were impoverished and widowed….

But God had made provision for the poor in His Word --- in the Law of Moses

NOTE THIS: This new believer had been in the Word of God…. she KNEW about what God said in Leviticus 19:9-10

There God prescribes one of the "welfare" programs in Israel.

Farmers were not to completely harvest their fields, so the poor and needy could come and glean the remains for themselves.

This has such a DIVINE DESIGN to it.

It commands the farmers to have a generous heart

It commands the poor to be active and work for their food –

It gives to them a way for them to provide for their own needs with dignity.

And IN FAITH --- Ruth went out TRUSTING the God Who said in Deut.10:18 that

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.”And God did not fail her!

PLEASE NOTE – Though Ruth has GENUINE FAITH…. RADICAL FAITH…. Ruth isn’t afraid of work…even menial work.

GLEANING in the fields was menial – tiring -- probably degrading –

Yet she did it faithfully and diligently.

KEY QUESTION: What is your attitude when it comes to doing menial tasks?

I don’t’ see anywhere in Scripture that God rewards lazy people!

To the contrary ---

Through out the Scriptures He seems to guide, bless, use, and give direction to, those diligent in life’s business.

EXAMPLE: Eliezer – the servant of Abraham – said that God DIRECTED him while he about the business of his master Abraham!

Proverbs 12:24 “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.”Proverbs 13:4 “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.”

Be faithful to the “task at hand” and you will find direction.

v. 3b And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

KEY OBSERVATION: It does NOT say – “the Lord showed her this field.”

Interesting -- it seems so natural.

BUT --- Yet, if she’s “1 field off” there is no Obed, no Jesse, no David!

KEY INSIGHT: God works SUPERNATURALLY in the most NATURAL ways

God's direction is MOST often anything but COSMIC  

No "Twilight Zone" music......

No radar beeps.....

EXAMPLE: Me meeting Valerie

There was no vision or psychic impression….. "Wait, I think I should sign up to play guitar at the Sunday evening service for…. Wait…. Yes… there I see it…. there a wife awaits me”

I simply wanted to play guitar for the Lord 

BUT - The Lord wanted me to meet the woman who would be my wife

EXAMPLE: The way that I got hired as a Varsity football coach at Villa Park H.S.

In order to complete my Teaching Credential I had to do my student teaching somewhere

I thought VPHS would be great because it was near all of my new Christian friends

AT VP PE in summer school was varsity football

After first week the head coach asked me to join his staff

THAT was one of the richest times of evangelism I ever had

Many times -- when we are really walking in the Spirit, we can only see the invisible hand of God by looking back.

I think it is true that – if we spend too much time trying to look for His hand ahead of us, we can get into real trouble.

QUOTE: Oh, the wonderful way the invisible hand of God works! If Ruth would have stayed home and waited for a "spiritual" feeling, she probably might have waited a long time - and still gone to the wrong field! Instead, Ruth experienced the very natural moving of the supernatural hand of God.

4And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.

Wouldn't this be a wonderful way to conduct business

Here is MANAGEMENT (Boaz) saying - THE LORD [BE] WITH YOU

Here is LABOR saying - THE LORD BLESS THEE.

This is a GREAT INSIGHT into the heart and character of Boaz.

You can often tell the real character of a man in authority by seeing how he relates to his staff, and how they think of him.

Then he noticed the stranger! 5Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?

PARAPHRASE – WHO is the BABE?

6And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: 7And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

Ruth may not have known it, but she was under inspection.

The supervisor was looking at what kind of job she was doing, and he was impressed that she was doing a good job.

KEY APPLICATION: We are under inspection also.

1.) GOD is watching

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, ◙ as you still do.

All along - He is WATCHING…. The WAY we do our work… our ATTITUDE in our work.

2.) At times when we don't know it, we are being watched by others to see how we will walk with God.

And what they see will make a difference.

QUESTION: WHAT do they see

8Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. 10Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

11And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

v10 Why have I found favor in your eyes

The THEME of the first section - LIVING BY FAITH.

THE THEME of this section – LIVING IN GRACE.

Ruth understood FAITH and she understood GRACE.

GRACE = getting that which you do not deserve.

SO many people --- even professing Christians --- have the attitude

"Well it's about time someone noticed! I've been working my head off all day! Come on LORD, it's pay-back time!"

RUTH IS EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of that

We never see Ruth asking why all the hard things have come upon her in life.

Instead, she asks why this good thing has come! What a difference in attitude!

HER QUESTION is based upon her being so conscious of being a gentile!

She knew that she was OUTSIDE of the Promises and Covenants between God and Israel.

Her sense of NOT DESERVING the blessings of God made the kindness of Boaz's kindness to her all the more precious.

KEY APPLICATION #1 - It is ONLY when we are keenly aware of how UNDESERVING we are that the KINDNESS of JESUS is truly precious to us.

KEY APPLICATION #2 - How do we view those outside of Christ? How do we treat them?

v. 12 The LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge:

Under whose wings:

FAITH in Jesus NEVER leaves you out in the cold, on your own.

We once USED to be without God, having no hope in this world.

BUT – the moment you trust in Christ You come UNDER the COVERING and PROTECTION of God.

Come for refuge (Hāsâ) = seek refuge, flee….come for protection

and thus figuratively = put trust in (God), confide, hope in (God or person).

Its used 154 x’s in the OT. - It’s similar to the NT Faith & belief.

Ps.2:12 “Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him”

Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (Page 307). Chicago: Moody Press.

3Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.

Now Boaz invites her on a lunch dateFirst hints of romance.

14And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left (and kept some back.) Not appear to be a pig

There are so many single young adults here – A great practical example for you here – I think the best and the “safest” way to get to know someone of the opposite sex is in a group.

15And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: 16And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.17So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. 18And she took it up,

and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. 19And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.

WHERE HAVE YOU GLEANED TODAY?This is a GREAT question that we should ask each other

The problem is that so many Christians have been eating from the MENU of Moab to be able to answer the question

Can you talk more readily about the latest movie you have seen than you can talk about the Word?

I’m NOT saying that you can’t talk or shouldn’t talk about LIFE.

But do you have something to share from the BREAD of the Word?

BIBLE BUS!!

May the Lord help us to be those who will glean in the fields of Bethlehem

20And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.Naomi is able to see that this was the hand of God!!!

Chance is banished from the vocabulary of faith!

The Christian sees the hand of God in everything.

John 3:3 Unless you are born again you can not SEE the Kingdom of God

CRUCIAL: Ruth was led to this field

She was directed by God to come face-to-face with the one man God had chosen to redeem her and marry her!

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Single ladies – God do the same today?

You don’t have to strive, engineer, nor manipulate to find the man Gods picked for you.

Just be about your everyday business like Ruth!

QUOTE: SPURGEON - “Trivial matters of today & tomorrow may involve consequences of the highest importance.”

Seek ye first….

21And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. 22And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. 23So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

Ruth is a one field woman!

CHRISTIANS – If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good you know that it is better to “glean” the corners in our Fathers field than take the “whole harvest” from any other.

CLOSING APPLICATION: Little did this widowed / impoverished woman know that amid the sheaves she would find a husband.

And that hat he would make her joint owner of all those acres.

Little did this widowed / impoverished woman know that she would become ancestor of the great Messiah!

God is so very good to those who trust Him…

He surprises us with “unlooked for” blessings.

Instead of living on leftovers, Ruth became a friend of “the lord of the harvest,” who gave her generous gifts.

WHAT AN AMAZING PICTURE of what Christ has done for us!

Who is kind toward us. Has shown us favor. Protects us, provides for us, redeems us

NEXT WEEK

We will begin our study of CHAPTER 3 with a look at the meaning of the KINSMAN REDEEMER