Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] As you're opening your Bibles, hopefully you have your Bibles. We're going to be this morning in the Book of Ruth. If you are new here to Living Hope, welcome to church today. We're glad that you chose to join us. My name is Duba. I'm the pastor here and privileged to be able to walk through Ruth chapter three this morning with you. So if you have your Bibles, open your Bibles to Ruth chapter three. Children ages three to five are welcome to go to children's church. If you so desire, there'll be some adults that hang out back there with you. Walk through the Word together. Great time for kids ages 3 to 3 to 5. Like I said, if you have your bulletin, you can open that up. Inside your bulletin, you'll find all sorts of things happening in the life of the church, ways that you can connect. If you're newer here and you'd like to get on email lists or connect on social media and all of those things, there's ways to do that. You can look again in your bulletin, find all sorts of things there. If you close your bulletin on the backside, you will find the outline that we will walk through today. In what book are we in? Ruth. Ruth. All right. Just making sure we're all on the same page.
[00:01:01] Chapter three, verses one through 18 is what we're gonna look at today. And if you haven't been with us for the last few weeks, or maybe last week, you were at church camp with a chunk of us, you missed chapter two, unless you jumped online and watched that. Let me give just a brief review of where we were in chapters one, chapter two, and then we're gonna be in chapter three, like I said today. So. So if you have your Bibles open in Ruth chapter one, it starts off in chapter one, verse one. It says, in the days that the Judges reigned, or in the days the judges ruled. And so that gives us a picture of when this time occurred in Ruth, when this story occurred in the season or in the time of the Judges. One of the things we know about the time of the Judges is that everyone. It says this multiple times in the book of Judges, that everyone was doing or did what was right in their own eyes. And so what that implies to us is this was not a wonderful godly time when people were pursuing the Lord. This was a time where people were doing what was right in their own eyes, which, as we know, when we're walking apart from the Lord, the heart is deceitful. It means there's probably a lot of Messy things going on. A lot of other nations that were pressing in upon the nation of Israel. This was not a wonderful time, a wonderful season for this nation. So we know there was then a famine. It says in verse one of chapter one. And so because of that famine, there was an individual. His name was Elimelech. He was married to somebody named Naomi. They had a couple sons. They left where they were in Israel in the town of Bethlehem, and they went to a place called Moab because they were leaving Bethlehem because there was this famine that was going on. And they hung out there for at least 10 years. In that time, their two sons ended up dying. Elimelech, the husband, he ends up dying. So we have Naomi. The two sons actually ended up marrying two other ladies. Two other men or two other ladies? I'm sorry. And then, just to clarify, this was a couple thousand years ago. Nevermind.
[00:02:55] Chapter one concludes with Ruth saying to Naomi, I'm going to go with you wherever you want. Wherever you're going, I'm going to go. And then chapter two, they end up going back to Bethlehem. She meets this guy named anybody, Boaz.
[00:03:09] And they hit it off. Things are going well. Boaz is caring for her in really an unofficial capacity, but caring for her. And we see that Ruth was faithful to serve Naomi in a great way. She didn't have to. She could have stayed back in Moab, but she chose to stay with Naomi. We get this brief picture, this brief glimpse, this phrase that we see in chapter two that we need to understand before we get into this chapter. There's this phrase that says that Boaz was somebody called a redeemer or a kinsman. Redeemer. Now, what is that? And why is that even important? It's not a phrase that you and I use today, but one really, that's often attributed particularly to this book and to some Old Testament texts, some Levitical law. So here's why it's important. You're gonna follow me here because this is really important in chapter three.
[00:04:02] Different culture, different time than where we are today. But here's what would happen. Let's say there's this guy, there's two men, brothers, and this gentleman over here, he gets married and he's taking care of his wife and so on. This guy is doing whatever he's doing. He gets married and life's going on. He's taking care of his wife, he has some land, he has a home. All of that's going fine for him. And then let's say he gets sick. Sick. And he calls 911, he gets in the ambulance and goes to the ER, right?
[00:04:33] Could that happen then? No. So he gets sick and he ends up dying. Well, now his wife is without a husband and she has property. She maybe has animals. They had that as a family. But now she doesn't have any guy man to take care of her. Also, they wanted to have kids, but now can they do that?
[00:04:55] No, because there wasn't a 911. They couldn't go to the ER. He's died. And so now she's without a husband. Now Levitical law says this is what should happen. Again, this is different than today cultural shift. This is what should happen. The next person who was closest to her husband, closest relative to her husband. So remember this other guy who was the brother, it was now his job to marry this lady, okay? To marry his brother's wife. And his job in doing that was to make sure that his brother's name could continue. His wife, this wife could be taken care of. His property would have someone to care for them. They wouldn't just be left to fend for themselves. Unlike, again, the culture today, the wife couldn't just go, or the widowed woman now couldn't just go off and find a job and take care of herself. She needed a man to take care of.
[00:05:47] And so it was this person's job, the brother's job, to now marry this woman and to, especially if she doesn't have any kids yet, to now have kids with her, hopefully a son to perpetuate or to continue the name of that original husband. Are you with me so far?
[00:06:04] So this person, he was a relative. We use this word sometime today. He was the kin, right?
[00:06:11] He was kin and he was a male individual. So he was a kin or kinsmen. Okay, so kinsman is what we see here in the text, this kinsman. And then we have this other word that's attached to kinsman, and it's kinsman, redeemer. So the redeemer is someone who would go and take over the role of that deceased in this case, let's say brother, to be responsible for the wife or his widowed wife and their kids, their property. So that's the kin.
[00:06:42] Woman or man, kinsman. And his job as the Redeemer is to come in and take ownership of whatever property that this woman had. So she was a close. He would be a close relative of this person that died. So kinsman, redeemer. Now we're all on the same page, right? All right, so let's jump in. We know what's going on here? We're going to start in chapter.
[00:07:04] The end of chapter two tells us they found out that Boaz is a kinsman, man, redeemer. He was related to Elimelech in some way. We don't know how, but he was related to Elimelech. Since Elimelech has died, he's now responsible for, or someone who is responsible for taking over and marrying into this family. Naomi, Ruth, there's no other men here because they've died and taking responsibility for the family. And so chapter two tells us we found out that not only is Boaz a nice guy, he's someone of worthy character, he happens to own fields, so he's wealthy, but he's also related to, to Naomi and to Ruth. So let's just walk through verses 1 through 18 today. And as we go through, there's a few things I'm gonna say first. What we're gonna do is we'll read through the passage.
[00:07:50] I'll offer some contextual and biblical cultural insights to that text. Thirdly, one practical takeaway, and then fourthly, remind us of how Christ is connected in each of these points that we will read through and write down today.
[00:08:06] There's big setting for you. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, we need your help here. Anytime we open your Word, we realize it is your authoritative word in our life. And it is inspired by you. And it is given to us for a purpose, not just so that we can learn more information, but so that we would be transformed further into your likeness. And so help us this morning to submit to what you want to say in in this text, how youw want to speak to us, how youw want to change us because of what we find here.
[00:08:39] Thank youk. That yout gave us this story to remind us again of youf great love for us. And you'd power over all things in all creation, in Jesus name, Amen. Point one on your outline. You could write this in. We see now Naomi and Ruth, they have no one to take care of them, so they're gonna seek provision. Seeking provision is what you could write in for verses one through five. So let's just read that together and then we'll walk through it a little bit more slowly and see what we can glean from it.
[00:09:08] And I use that word glean intentionally.
[00:09:11] So verses one through five. Let's start then.
[00:09:14] So this is the now that Naomi and Ruth know that Boaz, the kinsman Redeemer, now that he's been providing for them, things are going well, but they need some protection, they need some provision in their life for the long term. Then Naomi, her that is Ruth's mother in law, said to her, said to Ruth, my daughter, should I not. And if you like to underline or circle things, this is something to underline or circle that. We're going to come back to this at the very end of the message. Should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
[00:09:43] Is not Boaz our relative, our kin with whose young women you have been with? You've been working alongside in the field gleaning with C. He is out winnowing barley. So the end of harvest is now here tonight. He's at the threshing floor. Verse 3.
[00:10:01] This is the mother in law's grand plan for making sure her daughter gets married. All right. Verse 3. Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating or drinking. Now this is where it gets even more unique again, cultural differences going on here. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his face, feet and lie down.
[00:10:27] I don't recommend this today.
[00:10:30] And then he'll tell you what to do. Verse 5.
[00:10:33] And then she replied, all that you say, I will do. So we see. Just briefly, we walk through right into this text. The first thing we see is the reason for this is that Naomi wants security for her daughter in law. She wants to know Ruth is going to be taken care of in her life.
[00:10:52] The Hebrew word here that speaks to this, and I told you, you can underline it, the seeking rest the Hebrew word speaks to. I want you to be able to have a home. We have a house to live in. But you need someone that is going to give you security, that's going to give you rest in your life, that's going to protect you. So the hope is for Boaz to marry who, Ruth, and really take ownership of all of this that's going on here. We don't know where they're living. They possibly could be living in the home that they left 10 years prior. We don't know if. So it's been abandoned for 10 years perhaps. So it's probably not well kept. So they go back there, they're living there. And Naomi has this great idea. Boaz is someone who's close by. He's a nice guy, he's well off. Maybe the two of them can get together. Have any of you been in situations where someone's trying to play matchmaker.
[00:11:44] Isn't that fun?
[00:11:47] So this. It's fun to be the one playing matchmaker.
[00:11:50] Anyway, we see now, Naomi says, this is my plan. You've been interacting for this time, but I think you should go off now and approach this person and say, I'm ready, or I'm interested in engaging in a relationship being married to you. Now what she says is you should go to the threshing floor. I put a picture, I think, on the screen that kind of gives this picture of what would have happened. Did I do that? Or I maybe. Okay, so what would have happened? You can kind of see off in the distance. In that picture, there's a town. Well, in that case, in the picture, there's this little city. But what would have happened is off in the distance, off from the town of Bethlehem.
[00:12:27] Threshing floor is an area usually raised up higher, maybe on a little hill. And then they would have made sure that the ground was very hard, some sort of bedrock there, maybe they would have created a space where there was rock that was hard underneath. And then what they would have done is taken all their grain and barley, in this case, and they would have laid it on the threshing floor. And then they would have taken what was called a threshing sledge. You see those two cows pulling what looks like a little snow sled.
[00:12:54] So that's called a threshing sledge. We actually have one in our museum. And underneath, they would have stuck rocks and hard objects, and they would have put a couple animals on front of this sledge called a sledge, not a sled. I know it's close.
[00:13:07] Then the animals would have pulled the sledge around. They would have put weight on top of the sledge. You see a couple boys, I think, just sitting on there, hanging out. And the rocks would have run over the tops of the grain over the barley, and it would have separated it from the shaft. And then what they would have done is taken a fork and tossed it up into the air on a windy day, usually in the evening, as the wind comes along and blows the shaft away. And they would have been left with the grain. So a little history there. We don't do this so much today, do we?
[00:13:35] But this is what would have been normal for them at the end of the harvest. So Naomi says, all right, this is what's going to be going on. They will be working hard. They're going to stay up late. So this is the time I want you to go over to where they are. But she doesn't just say, go over to where they are. She says, I want you to look at verse three with me. You can go back on the screen to verse three, or in your Bibles, look with me there. She says that she should do. Ruth should do some things. She said you should take a bath or wash yourself. Right? Taking a shower, taking a bath wasn't a normal thing, a daily activity for the people. Then they didn't have running water like you and I do.
[00:14:12] Go wash yourself, anoint yourself some sort of, maybe essential oil type sort of thing. Smell good, Take off, most likely your. Whatever garment you might be wearing to show that you're a widow, and put on a new shawl or a new cloak, a new garment, clean up, look good, and then go over to where Boaz is. Note where he's lying. That's important because you don't want to go over to the wrong guy and that would be really awkward. And then go over and uncover his feet. Now, why do this? Why not just approach him when she's in the field and say, hey, Boaz, would you like to get married?
[00:14:50] Well, and no one's really. Here's. In all honesty, no one's really sure why this. Some say that this is some near east tradition in which the woman might be able to approach the man in such a way that's not overtly public. And if he wanted to say no, he. He could do that. But he then. So Ruth hears this from Naomi and she doesn't say, ah, I don't think so. She says, I will do that. And so she goes over, she lays, and we're gonna see this in just a moment. She doesn't argue, but she says, I will do this exact thing that you've called me to do that you've asked me to do. So brief, practical takeaway, and then we'll look at. See what happens after this. Maybe if you're writing things down, look at verse three.
[00:15:32] Ruth was told to do some things. Approaching Boaz. Here's the takeaway for you and I.
[00:15:38] Trusting God doesn't mean that you sit back and wait for God to provide and do nothing.
[00:15:44] At times, trusting God might also mean that you get up and do something. Notice what Ruth didn't do. She didn't sit back and say, I just hope God brings me a husband. I just hope. I just hope Boaz is cool. I hope. I hope. She didn't do that, did she?
[00:15:58] She got herself ready, she prepared herself, and then she went out and she asked. She went out and pursued that desire and then she left it in the Lord's hand. What are you going to do here?
[00:16:10] For us, it's the same thing. We don't say, well, hopefully sit back on the couch and say, I hope I get a job, I hope I get a job. And then you just hope that the phone rings and somebody says, hey, you got the job that you didn't apply for. Is that going to happen?
[00:16:22] Not likely, right? So even in trusting God, it doesn't mean that we sit back and say, I'm not gonna do even what I am responsible for doing. So Christ's connection here. And then we'll go to point 2. Ruth and Naomi and I love this. Ruth and Naomi trusted that Boaz was an honorable person and that he was safe to go to. So as we consider Jesus and Boaz, because there's a parallel that we're see through this text between Jesus and Boaz. And as we consider Jesus, we can also rest assured that he is also safe for us to go to when we're feeling vulnerable.
[00:16:58] Jesus is not someone that no matter what kind of baggage we might be carrying when we approach him, that he's going to wag the finger at us and say, well, you should have cleaned up more, you should have done better. Jesus, especially for us to know when we are feeling vulnerable, when we're feeling scared, when we're feeling uncertain, that he's someone that we can run back to, that we can go back to and trust that Jesus is kind, that he's good, that he's safe. And even when we've been running from him for a long time, he's not one who says, I'm going to scold you when you get back. Remember that picture of the prodigal son who ran away from his left? His father when he comes back, does his father scold him? No. He welcomes him with open arms. I love the picture here that Ruth and Naomi trusted that Boaz was a safe person that they could go to even at a time when Boaz could have taken advantage of the situation.
[00:17:46] Go to point two. We see that Ruth's seeking provision. And then we see next she's going to request provision from Boaz. Verses 6 through 9. Look in your Bibles with me. Let's read together.
[00:17:56] So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother in law had commanded her. That will come back. We're going to touch on that later. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
[00:18:16] At midnight.
[00:18:18] The man was startled. And he turns over and what does your Bible say?
[00:18:22] Behold what a woman lay at his feet. And he said, any natural question that any of us here today would ask, who are you? It's dark. There's no street lights, right? It's dark. He just sees this outline of this person.
[00:18:37] Who are you? And she says, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. And that word in Hebrew, the word is goel. It's the same picture of this kinsman, redeemer, the one who is positioned in such a way to help provide provision and safety for me because my husband is no longer here. So she did what she was told by Ruth. She did that no matter how nervous. Do you think she would have been nervous in that situation?
[00:19:02] Would you be kind of nervous in that situation?
[00:19:05] That seems kind of nerve wracking when you're getting all ready. I mean, maybe it's like this first, it wasn't even a first date. I mean, it's more nerve wracking than that.
[00:19:12] Would have approached this. Hoping that no one sees her, hoping that she doesn't miss where he actually laid down and get to the wrong guy. Hoping that as he approaches that he might have a positive response to her. But she still obeys because she realizes, I'm going to honor the wisdom of Naomi. So Boaz, it says that he had eaten and drunk. Remember in chapter one, we saw that there was something bad that happened. Remember what that was?
[00:19:37] There was a famine in the land. We don't know how long this famine lasts, but if it did last for 10 years, which would have been quite some time, we now find Boaz, who's obviously rejoicing at a big crop, right? There was a famine for maybe up to 10 years prior to this. And now the famine is over and he's obviously rejoicing and he's happy about what is going on. The hand of God has worked, has provided for him. And then he's worked hard all day. His heart was merry, understandably. He went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Now why does he just stay there? Why doesn't he just go home in that time again, cultural difference. They didn't have a chain link fence they could put around their grain, their property. They didn't have a little ring camera or a blink camera or whatever you guys have that they could just point at their property and Say I want to make sure that no one bad comes. Remember the time is the judges. Everyone is doing what is right in there own eye. So there's probably people around who would come very quickly, not honorable people and take what is not theirs. Boaz just did the hard work. He's now going to protect his property. And so he lays down and nighttime there, sundown at this time of the year is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30 or so. Let's say it's now dark at 8:30, Ruth Waits. Let's say she lays down after uncovering his feet around nine, he wakes up at what time?
[00:20:55] Imagine being Ruth right now for three hours laying down at Boaz's feet, waiting for him to wake up. I wonder if she slept or if she just laid there kind of jittery at that time, waiting to see what is going to happen. Then he wakes up around midnight, sees her there. And then Ruth's replies, incredibly clear and incredibly humble. I love it.
[00:21:19] She says, here's who I am and, and here's what I'm doing. I'm your servant. I'm Ruth. We've already had some interaction. And then she says, spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. Now I don't know what your perceptions have been of this story. What's really clear here is one. Ruth and Boaz and Naomi do not imply anywhere that anything inappropriate happened in this interaction. When she says one, she slept at his feet, right? Not next to him, at his feet. And then she says, spread your wings over me. Two things that we could see going on here, one, in chapter two, I think verse 20 or so Ruth says, or verse 12 of chapter two, Boaz says to Ruth, you have done a kind thing and you've left Moab to care for your mother in law, Naomi, and you've come under the wings, if you will, of the Lord. You could look in verse 12 of the wings of the Lord who has offered protection for you. So Ruth could be making a direct reference back to Boaz's comment as the Lord has protected her.
[00:22:21] And also she's saying, can you also be the one to come and offer protection over me? The second thing could just be a very clear direct request. Can you spread your wings over offer protection over me and my family. So whether or not it's a reference back and forth, there is nothing inappropriate in this direct request. Humble.
[00:22:43] And she says, you're my redeemer. I've done my homework. We know you're related. You're the kinsman so you are one who can come and help provide. So quick takeaway and the Christ connection. We'll move right on after that toy Kuega maybe writing some things down here. Ruth obeyed Naomi. She was probably, as I said earlier, considerably scared. Here's the thing. For us, there is great value to listening and to obeying, to following the guidance of someone who is wiser than you.
[00:23:13] Now, often in the season when we're asking for advice, when we need direction, we hopefully will approach people that we trust. Now, in my life in the past when I worked kind of in a professional setting, in a counseling world, there was many times that I would interact with folks and they would ask me, what should I do about this? And I would say, you should do this. Here's what the Bible says about this. Here's your situation. Here's how it matches. And the reply would be, yeah, that sounds really good. And then they would leave. And then we'd come back. And then I'd say, how'd that go? And then the reply would be, well, I didn't do it, but I'm still dealing with the same problem.
[00:23:46] I would say, well, you should do this. Cause this will solve the problem. Yeah, it sounds good. And then they would leave and they'd come back. How'd that go? Well, it did. I haven't done it yet.
[00:23:55] Over and over again.
[00:23:57] Here's the point. There are wise people in your life and it's good to ask for help and ask for direction. It's also good to listen to, to walk alongside in obedience to the things that you're being told to do or guided to do. Christ's connection here. Jesus has the power to redeem us.
[00:24:16] He has the power to save us from the punishment of sin in our life. But we must be, as Ruth was here, the one to pursue that, to seek that out. Jesus says he is ready and we then he calls us to have a heart that is seeking him. Looking too often, the gospel of Jesus is. Is presented as this. Your life may be good.
[00:24:38] Add Jesus on and it'll get better. You know what I'm talking about. Just add Jesus. Jesus is a great addition. He's the cherry on top to your already wonderful life. Here's the problem. Well, there's many problems with that. But here's one significant problem with that. That is a false gospel. Because the true gospel says, apart from Jesus, you are nothing. Apart from Jesus, you are wretched. Apart from Jesus, you have no future. That is anything good. You may look nice now, things may be all put Together now, but apart from Jesus, you are lost. That's the truth. That's the hard bad news, if you will. And then the good news of the gospel says, jesus is ready and willing to take you back.
[00:25:18] Jesus is ready and willing, but you must be the one to choose to say courageously. I see all the things that I've built around me, but they're nothing in comparison to the prize of Jesus Christ. And so because of that, I'm gonna step into relationship with him. And that might mean courageously leaving the other things behind, like we saw Ruth do. I'm going to abandon the other things and choose to step into my Redeemer's life, my Redeemer's arms who are ready. Let's look at point three on your outline. Promising provision. Here's where Ruth steps in. And here's his reply. Here's the reply that Ruth has been anxious to know. What is he going to say? Look, with me here, you can write in promising provision. This is particularly in verses 10 through 13.
[00:26:03] Here's what Boaz says. And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord.
[00:26:09] Interesting phrase. Here we're going to see this multiple times. My daughter, you have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, do not fear.
[00:26:23] Probably a little bit of fear already going on here, but she's courageously stepped into this situation. Do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask for. My fellow townspeople, know that you are a. What?
[00:26:36] A worthy woman. We know, we saw earlier that Boaz was known as a worthy man here. Worthy woman. Speaking of character, let's just pause there for a minute. Before you go to the next slide, a couple things. What does Boaz mean when he says this last kindness is greater than the first? What he's saying here is this. So remember, the first kindness that we see Ruth demonstrating in chapter one is when she says to Naomi, where you go, I will.
[00:27:00] And your people will be my people and your God will be my God. And she says that I will follow you. That's first kindness. Because she's chosen to say, I'm not gonna go back with my family in Moab and marry somebody else. I'm not gonna go back to all of them. I love you. I'm loyal to you.
[00:27:17] I've resolved in my mind and my heart to stay with you, Naomi, to care for you. So kindness number one, this second kindness is what he's talking about.
[00:27:27] When the husband has died, now they're left alone. Ruth and Naomi now are together.
[00:27:34] Someone needs to care for Naomi. And Ruth has done this. She has said, I am willing to go and to do the thing, Naomi, that you can't do and find someone that can perpetuate to continue your family name, even if that means marrying someone. Notice what he says that is older now. A couple times, and I told you to note this a couple times, we see that Naomi, that Boaz calls Ruth my. Do you see that there? My daughter. Why does he say that? Jewish tradition says, and we don't know this. The text doesn't tell us this. Again, cultural shift here.
[00:28:13] Jewish tradition tells us that Boaz could have been as old as 80 years old and Ruth could have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 years old.
[00:28:21] Some of you are like, oh, okay, yeah, definitely cultural shift there.
[00:28:26] So when he says, my daughter, quite literally, she's the age of someone who could be his daughter. And we also see this tone of respect, of honor towards her. And so he says, I am praising you that you're willing to marry someone like me, even though you could chase after some other younger man closer to your age that might be more pleasant. Also remember, Ruth's first husband died, who's probably going to die first between Ruth and Boaz.
[00:28:51] So this means even she's putting herself in the situation where she's going to be widowed twice.
[00:28:56] This kindness is greater than the first, he says. Verse 12 goes on, you can go to the next slide. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. He knows this already, yet yet so slight. Hang up here. Yet there is a redeemer. Goel is the word there. This person who is to take ownership of nearer than I, a redeemer, nearer than I remain. Tonight, here's what he says, verse 13. And in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, let him do it. But if he will not redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. And then he says, lie down till the morning. In other words, don't try to walk back from wherever they were at the threshing floor back to Bethlehem.
[00:29:35] So the slight hangup is this. Boaz realizes, yes, I know that we're related. I know that I'm a kinsman of you. But there's someone who is closer in relation. Remember we talked about that earlier to Elimelech than me. So maybe here's Elimelech, here's this other guy, whoever he is, we'll learn about him next week. And then here's Boaz. We don't know the direct relation there. So Boaz is like, yes, I am in line here to Elimelech, but there's somebody else closer and I need to. According to Jewish law, I need to check with him first.
[00:30:05] If he wants to do the honorable thing before I, then does that make sense? And he, this person who's closer, he has the choice, do I want to marry into this family or do I want to refuse that? And then it would go to the next person in line in this case, who is Boaz.
[00:30:23] Takeaway here. Before we look at point four, the attraction that both had for each other wasn't. Note this somewhere, wasn't purely physical.
[00:30:32] And in a culture where physical outlook matters significantly, what do we see here?
[00:30:39] That is not the most important thing, is it?
[00:30:41] Spiritual health, emotional health, mental health, integrity. That's what matters most. We don't see that. Boaz lying there says, well, you are really pretty, so sure, I'll do that.
[00:30:52] He says, not that. Oh, all my other guys, all my other workers think you're really pretty too. So, yeah, we can get married. That sounds good for me. He says, they all know that you are a woman of integrity, a woman of virtue. By the way, the only place that we see this virtuous woman or worthy woman, anyone. Proverbs, chapter 31, that's the only other place in the Old Testament where this virtuous woman, this phrase there, is seen elsewhere outside of Ruth. So as we consider virtue, as we consider our character, we must remember that the most important thing is seek first the kingdom of God. What does that look like in my life? Am I pursuing the things that matter most to the Lord. Even Paul speaks about this outward exercise that matters, outward appearance that matters. On some level, we see even Ruth, she tried to look somewhat good for Boaz, but she doesn't say that that's the most important thing. Christ's connection.
[00:31:46] Boaz accepted Ruth because she was a worthy woman. He cared for her because he saw the character that she had on the outside. Follow me here. Jesus wants us not because we are already full of good character, but because we were made in his image.
[00:32:03] And when we trust in him, here's what he says.
[00:32:06] I want to shape your character. I want to shape your emotions, I want to shape your mind, I want to shape your belief. I want to make you a more worthy woman. We see this Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 1 says, to walk in the way in which we were called. Walk in a worthy manner is what Ephesians 4 says. Here's Jesus purpose in your life and my life as we walk with him. I want to change you. Can you say change you?
[00:32:29] You say, change me?
[00:32:31] Yeah, that's what he wants. We would like to change everybody else.
[00:32:35] Jesus says, look inside. I want to change you. I want to mature your character. Wherever you are today, I don't want you to be there next week or next month or next year. I want to grow you. And Jesus says, I've given you the spirit, my spirit put inside of you so that you can change.
[00:32:52] He didn't say, I hope the best for you after you're saved. That's it, good luck. But he said, I want to change you. I want to make your character more worthy, more mature. And he puts us in a place like a church to help that occur. So that demands a question. Are you helping or hindering that process in your life?
[00:33:12] You think about what you read, what you watch, what you listen to, the things you do in your pastimes, your hobbies, your activities. Do those things help mature you in your relationship with Jesus? Or more notably, do they pull you away? Do they degrade your character, your relationship with the Lord? Verses 14 through 18 conclude and we see now that Ruth has to wait. Don't you like waiting? You go to the grocery store and you pick the longest line every time, right?
[00:33:39] You look, you go to the opening weekend of the movie because you like standing in line for a really long, long time. We love waiting.
[00:33:47] Drive through all about not waiting. And yet when the drive thru is long, we have to wait. We don't like waiting. But we see here that Ruth is going to have to wait because Boaz has some homework to do. He has to check in on some things. So a waiting provision is what you could write in point for awaiting provision. Follow me here. Verse 14. She goes on. So she does what Boaz says. He says, lay down and go to sleep until the morning.
[00:34:11] So she lay at his feet, not next to him until the morning, but arose before anyone could recognize it, that is, while it was still dark. And he said, so they both awoke up.
[00:34:24] Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. Unique phrase there, verse 15. And he said, bring the garment that you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it out. And he measured six measures.
[00:34:36] Some of your Bibles might say ephahs, it's probably not actually accurate because that would have been like £200 worth of barley.
[00:34:43] Probably not that. So we don't know how much this would have been. Six measures is really six Scoops, perhaps you might put it think there. And whatever it was, it was a generous amount barley. And put it on her. Then she went into the city, back to Bethlehem, that is in verse 16.
[00:35:01] And when she came to her mother in law, what's her mother in law's name?
[00:35:06] Naomi. Naomi said, how did you fare, my daughter?
[00:35:11] Then she told her all that the man had done for her.
[00:35:15] Verse 17, saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, you should not go back to your mother in law empty handed. That was kind again of him. And then it concludes verse 18. She replied, Wait, say wait, wait, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man that is Boaz will not rest until the rest, but will settle the matter today. As you look back at the beginning of that verse 14, go back one slide. He says that the text says they got up early before anyone could tell what is going on. You might be thinking, why?
[00:35:52] Why would they need to get up early?
[00:35:54] It wouldn't look great.
[00:35:56] Boaz, the boss man has some girl next to him when they wake up, when they're all supposed to be working hard.
[00:36:04] So it would have woken up. Remember, we know that one Ruth, Boaz is known as a worthy man, a man of integrity. This would have definitely stained that them seeing this other woman who happens to be laying out next to him. Secondly, Ruth is known as a worthy woman, right? A virtuous woman.
[00:36:23] The people's view of her then would significantly change when they saw that the two of them are sleeping over there. So they said, let's wake up. And then here's what Boaz says. There's a unique phrase there. And it's like he says this to Ruth, don't go on and advertise that we were here together, okay? Because that's not going to help any situation right now. Especially remember, there's Elimelech, he had died. There's this other guy, and then there's Boaz. If the other guy finds out that they spent the night together, if you will, how's that going to go?
[00:36:52] Not so well. Not so well. So it's like, let's not publicize this. Except here we are 2000 years later, or actually 4000 years later, reading about it.
[00:36:59] So he got out, but I'm going to show some kindness. He gives her some barley, they go home, and the mother in law, Naomi, says, wait, this is important. Help take away for us Christ's connection. And then we'll conclude, here's the takeaway. This is something worth Writing down somewhere, and more so than writing down applying to our life. Here it is from Boaz. Don't cut corners.
[00:37:24] If you know the right thing, do the right thing and not say, I just hope no one will find out. I'll do it my way, the easier way, and then hope that no one will discover. Couldn't Boaz have done that? He could have said, yeah, sure, Ruth, don't tell anybody. Just come over. It'll be fine. But he says no. Even in that conversation, he says, no, there's somebody else that deserves this right before I do. He didn't cut corners. Now, it's easy for us to talk about and say out loud, I'm not gonna cut corners. But it's hard to do, isn't it, when the situation arises.
[00:37:55] You know, when you look to the right and you look to the left, you're like, well, no one will know. Have any of you been there before?
[00:38:00] Even if it's not going to impact somebody else in a big way, we've all been there.
[00:38:05] No one will know.
[00:38:06] This is called integrity. It's doing the right thing even when it's hard and no one is watching.
[00:38:16] Doing the right thing even when it's hard, when no one is watching. Boaz was someone.
[00:38:21] Integrity, as we consider not cutting corners. Christ didn't cut corners either. In this final section, we see a picture of Christ who came in a proper manner to redeem us while under the law. He didn't circumvent the law, but he worked within its parameters. Galatians, chapter four speaks about this. Look with me, it's on the screen. Just one phrase here that talks about our redemption. Jesus coming back and saying, I want you, I own you, and I'm going to provide a way for you to be able to come back to me. Here's what it says. Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5. But when the fullness of time had come, that is, at the right time, he didn't cut corners. God sent forth his son, Jesus, born of a woman. Born under the what?
[00:39:03] Under the law. He didn't circumvent the law to find a way. In other words, Jesus didn't say this. And here's maybe the most clear way relevant for us. Jesus didn't just say, you know what? I love them all.
[00:39:16] I want them all to come to heaven even though they're sinners. No one's died for their sins. I'll just bring them to heaven anyway. Wouldn't that be circumventing the law? The law says the wages of sin is death. So Jesus doesn't say, you can have life, but no one has to die. He said, I'm not going to circumvent the law, so I will die. So the law is met. Fulfilled is another word that we use. So that verse 5. To redeem, to bring to myself, to offer protection for those who were under the law, that is the Jewish nation, and us as well, that we might receive. What. What's the word there? Adoption.
[00:39:52] You weren't in my family, but I'm going to provide a way that you can be in my family. Not by me circumventing the law, not by me cutting corners, but by doing it the right way. Let's conclude. You can go to the next slide. We're going to wrap all this up here, full circle.
[00:40:07] We must remember how the story started. Look in verse one with me again.
[00:40:12] The goal of this whole thing, this whole story, was that Naomi, that Ruth could find rest. Can you say rest?
[00:40:21] Rest. That was Naomi's goal. Remember, at the very beginning, she says, I want you to have rest. As we consider our life today.
[00:40:30] Rest, security, provisions. That is high on our list. We prioritize rest. We work hard so that we can make money, so that we can live in a. So that we could go to bed at night with a roof overhead, right? We want to be able to rest well, maybe this is why, if you have kids, you care about how well they do in school, so they could go to a good college, maybe one day, or they could get a good job, something like that. So that they could have provision, they could have security, right? As parents, that matters to you, right? You want that to happen. Rest matters to us. That's why we go on vacation, right? To get away from our problems.
[00:41:05] And then we come back from our vacation, we need to take another vacation.
[00:41:08] Because our vacation was not restful. Rest matters to us, as it should.
[00:41:13] Too often, more often than we would like to admit, rest is incredibly elusive.
[00:41:19] No matter how much we try, how much we work, no matter how much we make an effort to rest well, it's like holding water in your hands. It's there for a moment, and then before you know it, it's gone and you have to pour some more water in like it keeps disappearing. Resting well is hard for us because we're always looking for the next thing to do, the next thing to do. This brings this whole chapter full circle. Here's what Jesus said. We heard this at the beginning.
[00:41:46] Matthew 11 says this. If you're tired of chasing, tired of rushing Tired of pursuing something and you just want rest. Where should you go?
[00:41:56] Here's what Jesus says. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
[00:42:06] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Maybe you're here today and you don't feel rest in your soul. Maybe you're retired and you have time on your hands, but rest isn't something in your soul. Maybe you're working really, really hard, but rest is something that is still elusive. Maybe vacations are regular in your life, but rest is not there. This chapter teaches us that just as Ruth courageously went to Boaz to find rest, that is provision or security, so too we should run to our Redeemer to find rest.
[00:42:46] Just as a relationship with Boaz would offer Ruth rest, so too our relationship with Jesus is the one that is how we experience rest.
[00:42:55] It's this relationship here. It's not pursuing all these things out here. Last thing, if you feel like Christianity is more about rules than rest, perhaps religion is leading your life and not a relationship with Jesus.
[00:43:11] If you feel like Christianity is more about rules than rest, perhaps religion is leading your life and not a relationship with Jesus.
[00:43:20] Our Redeemer offers rest through relationship, not through rules. If you don't know how to do that, I would encourage you to connect, maybe with myself, one of the other pastors we'd love to help walk you through. What does it look like to rest in Jesus? For you to be able to go to him and say, I can breathe easier now when I find myself on my knees or in the Word, I can find rest when I'm connected this way. No matter how many storms are out here, rest is found in our Redeemer. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, we need your help each day as we know there's so many distracting things pulling our attention away from you, pulling our heartstrings away from you.
[00:44:04] You call us to find rest in you.
[00:44:08] You call us to come to you when we're weary, when we're burdened.
[00:44:13] And Lord, help us today to believe this promise of yours, that true rest can be found in you, our Redeemer.
[00:44:22] For those here today maybe who are striving internally, trying to be good enough for you, Lord, I pray that you would help them to see your great love for them and they can never be good enough for you, but that we would courageously that anyone here today who doesn't know you would courageously abandon their efforts and run to you.
[00:44:42] For those of us here today who know you, Lord, that we would find great rest as we spend time with you.
[00:44:48] That we would see this promise come to life in our lives and pursue this relationship that we have with you. In Jesus name, amen.
