Through the Bible - Ruth

Why don't you open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew to start, chapter 1? Matthew chapter 1 is the first book of the New Testament. Before we get into the scriptures here, let's pray.

God, we do thank you for your word, and I thank you that you've given us the opportunity to come before you with worship and praise, Lord. We offer our thanksgiving as we have already tonight. We ask now that you would open our hearts and minds, giving us understanding. Lord, send your Holy Spirit now to guide us in all truth and teach us all things as we look into your word. We thank you that in these last days you have chosen to speak to us by your Son, the Word of God. So, Jesus, we do pray that you'd speak to us. We ask it in your name. Amen.

Matthew chapter 1 says that Jesus Christ is the Son of David. In David's family tree is the name Ruth, which is actually not a Hebrew name, as we will see as we get into this passage tonight. If you want to turn back to the Old Testament, to the book of Ruth, how many of you read through the book of Ruth this week?

A little bit easier, huh? Four chapters of Ruth are a little bit easier to go through than Deuteronomy. This book is a treasure in the Old Testament. It's one of those books that can easily be read over quickly, without truly appreciating its significance. It is considered a literary gem, not just within the Bible, but in literature as a whole. Even secular scholars studying literature will examine the book of Ruth because it is a beautiful short story.

The setting of this book is provided in the first five verses. We read, "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled." We just finished the book of Judges last week, where we explored that period of time in Israel's history—some 350 plus years—before the monarchy was established and the kings of Israel were appointed. During this time, the nation was ruled by judges. The last chapter of Judges gives us a clear picture of this setting: "In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

In the midst of that situation, when different judges were raised up, we encounter this little story that unfolds during that period of Israel's history. It came to pass in the days of the judges that there was a famine in the land. You may remember from the book of Deuteronomy that famines would come upon the land as a result of judgment. When the children of Israel departed from following the Lord and did not seek Him as He had commanded them in Deuteronomy, these judgments would manifest. We saw this in Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. One of those curses was that the land would cease to be fruitful.

Thus, the famine in the land serves as a clear indication that the events of the book of Ruth take place during a time when the children of Israel were straying from following the Lord. In these first five verses, we are presented with a rather bleak setting.

There's a famine in the land of Israel and Bethlehem Judah. Now, Bethlehem is the city of David, as we will see as we get to 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. King David came from this area of Bethlehem. He was of the tribe of Judah, and Bethlehem was in the region that was given to the people of the tribe of Judah. The name Bethlehem means "house of bread." "Beth" in Hebrew means "house," and "lehem" means "bread." So, they were in this place called the house of bread, and yet there was a famine.

Elimelech takes his family and goes into the country of Moab, which was east of Israel. It was the land of a family that was closely related to the children of Israel through Abraham's nephew Lot. However, it was not really a nation that they were to spend much time in. Remember back in the book of Numbers, when the children of Israel were going through their wilderness wandering? They came into the country of Moab, and the king of Moab sought to bring a curse against them. He hired the prophet Balaam to bring a curse against the children of Israel.

During that period, the children of Israel began to sin because they started to marry women from the country of Moab. These women brought their gods into the households of the children of Israel, which caused them to sin. Ultimately, there was a falling away from the Lord and a judgment of God that came upon the children of Israel in Moab. Therefore, it wasn't a place that God wanted His people to dwell in.

Something we've talked about before that is very important in the Old Testament is that names and their definitions have great importance. They carry great weight. We will consider some of the names of the people in this passage. The starting point of our story is Elimelech. His name means "my God is king." There are some interesting aspects to consider regarding that name, "my God is king."

The first thing we want to look at is the definition of that name: God is. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, it tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that God is. They must believe that God is. This belief is the foundation and starting point of the Bible. In the beginning, what? God. It doesn't even question the idea of God or go into a defense for the truth of the existence of God.

It starts with the starting point of the Bible: God. The starting point of all creation, the starting point of all being, is God. Those people who come to the conclusion that there is no God have really been educated beyond their intelligence. They have come to a point where, as the Psalms say twice over, "the fool has said in his heart that there is no God." The existence of God is clearly seen in creation around us.

In Psalm 8, David says, as he beholds the moon, the stars, and the universe, that "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth shows forth His handiwork." God's existence is clearly evident in the creation around us. The man's name, Elimelech, means "my God is king." The first thing to note is that God is. His existence is very important.

Notice that He is a personal God because He is "my God." This God desires to have fellowship with man. This theme has been evident in our study of the books of the Bible so far. In the book of Genesis, man fell away from God; he was dead in a coffin in Egypt. God came, as described in the book of Exodus, to reach out to man and redeem him so that He could dwell in the midst of His people. We have seen this theme repeated over and over again in the books as we have gone through them and now come to the book of Ruth.

This God, who exists and creates all that we see, desires to have a relationship with man. He is a personal God. Even in the verse we have already considered, Hebrews 11:6 states, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." He desires that man would seek Him. If a person concludes that there is no God, it only means that they have not sought for Him. The Scripture says very clearly that Jesus would tell us, "If you seek, you shall find."

So, God is; that is a foregone conclusion. God exists, but He desires to be our God. He desires to have a personal and intimate relationship with us. He desires to be "my God." One of the sad things we will see next week in 1 Samuel is about King Saul. Remember, King Saul will be the first king of Israel, and he will be the king that they choose because he looks so good.

He was the people's choice for king. The scripture tells us in 1 Samuel that he was a head taller than everybody else in Israel, which means from the shoulders upward, he was taller than everyone else. So, he was really easy to pick out in a crowd. There’s Saul; he is our king.

Yet, when you get to 1 Samuel chapters 14 and 15, God tells Samuel to speak to Saul and say, "Go destroy the Amalekites." Saul doesn't fully obey. When Samuel comes to meet with him, three times in that passage, he refers to God as "the Lord, your God." Saul didn't claim God as his God. He didn't have that relationship with God that God desires to have with man.

What we see in this passage, even in just the name of this guy Elimelech, is that God exists and desires to have a personal and intimate relationship with you and me. When we come into that relationship, notice what kind of relationship it is here. My God is what? King. He desires to be the leader, the Lord, the king of our lives, the master of our lives.

If God is not king, we will not experience the abundant life that God desires for us to have. The scripture tells us in John chapter 10, verse 10, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and destroy. But Jesus said, 'I am come that you may have life, and that more abundantly.'" God desires that we would have abundant life, but that abundant life is only experienced as God is our God. He is my God, but also, as He is my king. We must come to the place of submission to Him as Lord, or we will never experience the abundant life, the fullness of life that God has for us.

One of the things we see in this guy, Elimelech, is that God is. Yes, God desires to be Elimelech's God, his own personal God. He desires to be the Lord of his life, the king of his life. But notice what we read there. This story, as we will see, could really be called the romance of redemption. It starts with a man—a man who chooses pleasure over God as his king—and the resulting life that comes from that.

What does he experience when he takes these things into his life? Well, he gives birth to two sons first. Malon was the first one, and his name is interesting; it means sickly.

He gives birth to sickness. The next son that he had was Kilion, which means pining, to pine away, to wither away and die. Here is this guy, Elimelech, whose name means "My God is king." He marries Pleasure and takes hold of pleasure as his thing. What does it produce? Sickness and death, pining away. He experiences famine in the land.

This will always be the case. When you and I lay hold of the things of this world, the pleasures and the things that this world has to offer, it will always end up in famine. Ultimately, when we experience famine in our lives, if our heart is not given to the Lord, if we do not have Him as our God, as our King, then we will begin to turn away from Him and end up in Moab, in this place called Moab.

You saw the same thing back in the book of Genesis. Maybe you remember reading it. In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abraham. He said, "Abraham, I want you to follow me and go to the land of Canaan." Abraham did. He went to the place where God met with him, built an altar, and named the place Bethel.

We just said a few minutes ago that Bethlehem means "house of bread." Bethel means "house of God." He builds for himself this altar at the house of God. But the very next verse says that Abraham pitched his tent to the east of Bethel, between Bethel and Ai. Ai in the Scriptures means "heap of ruin."

When you place your life in between the house of God and the heap of ruin, the world, and you position yourself in the midst of that, what will you experience? The very next verse of Genesis chapter 12 illustrates this. It’s the same thing that happens in every life. When you and I begin to follow God and want to have a relationship with Him, He becomes your personal God, my God.

However, if you do not come into that place where He becomes King and Lord of your life, then you will kind of stand on the fence. You will end up going towards Egypt or going towards Moab. The name Moab means "wash basin" or "wash pot." It’s like a dirty pot; you don’t really want to go there. Yet, that’s exactly where Elimelech went. He married Pleasure, Naomi, and he had two sons, Sickly and Pining, and he ends up in Moab. What happens there in Moab?

He dies. The wages of sin is death. Just as we saw in the book of Genesis, Genesis ends with man in a coffin in Egypt. Here we have another man who was supposed to have God as his king, and yet he is dead in Moab. His two sons, sickly and pining, take to themselves wives, Moabite women.

This was a problem for Israel in the book of Numbers. Remember when they started to marry women from the Moabites? They brought Moabite gods into their houses, and they began to depart from the Lord even more fully. When these men married Moabite women, what happened to them? Well, after about ten years of being there, they died also. Naomi was left with her two daughters-in-law.

It says in verse 6, "Then she arose with her two daughters-in-law that they might return from the country of Moab." For she heard, notice this, she heard that while she was in the country of Moab, the Lord had visited His people and given them what? Bread. God came from heaven and gave His people bread. Where? Back in Bethlehem, the house of bread. God visited His people.

This is interesting because the bread of life, where did He come from? Where was He birthed? Bethlehem, the house of bread. So, she gets news while she's in Moab that now there is bread in her hometown, back in Bethlehem. She decides to journey back there.

It says in verse 7, "Now the name Judah, does anybody know what the meaning of the name is?" Praise, that's right. She is on her way back to the land of praise, back to the land of Judah, to the house of bread, because God had visited His people and given them bread. With her, she brings her two daughters-in-law.

Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law in verse 8, "Go, return each to your mother's house, and the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you that you may find what? Rest." May God grant to you that you will find rest.

But the fact is, you'll never find rest in Moab. Rest is only found in Jesus Christ. There does remain a rest for the people of God. He is the only way to rest. He would say in Matthew 11, verse 28, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden."

And I will give you what? Rest. So she said, "The Lord grant you rest, each of you in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. They said unto her, "Surely we will return with thee unto your people."

Naomi said unto them again, "Turn, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb that they may be husbands unto you?" This is an interesting thing. Those of you who read through Deuteronomy when we were going through it, back in Deuteronomy chapter 25, will remember that there was a law given to the children of Israel. It was the law of the kinsman redeemer.

The way this worked was that if one man, the oldest son of a family, had taken a wife and he died, then his next brother would take that wife so that she would give birth to a son who would carry on his name. What Naomi says here is, "I have no more children in my womb. I have no more husband to bring forth children that you could marry."

So she says to her two daughters-in-law in verse 12, "Turn again, my daughters. Go your way. For I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, and if I should have a husband also tonight and should also bear sons, would you tarry and wait for them till they are grown? Would you stay and wait for them to have them for your husbands? No, my daughters. For it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me."

You see, here is the mindset of this woman, Naomi, when hard times come. She says, "The hand of the Lord is against me." And you know, it's causing problems for you as well, so you might as well just stay away from me. If you come with me, you're going to find nothing more but trouble.

Have you ever felt like that before? Everything you touch turns to nothing. That's kind of where Naomi was at this point in time. So she says, "Go back. It grieves me that the hand of the Lord is against me." They lifted up their voices and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her.

This is an interesting thing because in these two women from Moab, you find the two different commitments that we often see that people make to God. Initially, both of them said, "We will go with you. Wherever you go, we are going to go with you." But as the consideration continued about the difficulty that lay ahead, one of them said, "All right, I'll see you later," and she went back to her household. She returned, in fact, to her own gods in her household there in Moab. But one of them, the other one, Ruth, it says that she clave.

Naomi said to her mother-in-law, "Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people and, notice this, unto her gods. Return thou after your sister-in-law."

Ruth, in a beautiful declaration, responded to Naomi, "Entreat me not to leave you or return from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where thou diest, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so unto me and more also, if anything but death parts me from you."

She expressed her commitment, saying, "Don't entreat me to leave you. Wherever you go, I'm going to go. Your people are going to be my people. I'm going to live and die with you. And your God shall be my God." This beautiful declaration of Ruth highlights her loyalty and friendship. Her name, Ruth, means friendship or beauty, and we see this beautiful friendship in her character.

The book of Ruth is very interesting. The first chapter opens with the theme of the bitterness of death. We see this bitterness as Naomi returns to her land, back to Bethlehem. In verse 18, when Naomi saw that Ruth was steadfastly minded to go with her, she ceased speaking to her. So, the two of them went to the land of Bethlehem.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, the entire city was moved by their presence. The people exclaimed, "It is Naomi!" Naomi responded, "Call me no longer Naomi. Call me Mara."

Here is the interesting thing: the name Naomi means pleasure, while the name Mara means bitterness. Pleasure can turn to bitterness if that is what you seek. Remember in Hebrews chapter 11, it speaks about Moses, who decided to follow his brethren, the children of Israel, instead of receiving the passing pleasures of sin. Sin is a passing pleasure, and it always results in bitterness. Naomi said, "Don't call me Naomi anymore. Don't call me pleasure anymore because all that's been left for me is bitterness. Mara. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."

I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why then call me Naomi, seeing the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me? You see where her heart was. You see where her mindset was. God is against me. Have you ever felt that way before? God is just completely against me. He's turned His hand against me.

She cries out and says, "Don't call me pleasure anymore. There's no pleasure in this life. I am bitter." There are a lot of people who end up going that route. They find themselves, in the later years of their lives, bitter and angry, upset at the world and upset at God because He didn't do what they expected Him to do.

Have you noticed yet that God does not live up to your expectations? I don't know if you've noticed that, but I'm sure you have. I've heard some of you say, "Yeah, I know that." But if you haven't realized that yet, you will. He does not live up to our expectations, nor did He ever promise that He would. Even for those who follow Him closely, He doesn't meet their expectations.

Consider what the Bible tells us about John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a man who lived for God probably like no other. He completely dedicated his life to the work that God had called him to. This was a guy who wore camel's hair and ate locusts and wild honey. I mean, this was not a pleasurable existence. That was the way he lived throughout his life. He prepared the way of the Lord faithfully, as he was supposed to.

Near the end of his life, he was arrested because he spoke out against the sin of King Herod, and he was thrown in jail. While he was waiting there, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus. His disciples came to Jesus with a question: "Are you the Christ, or should we seek another?"

I believe, as I've studied through the Gospels, that John the Baptist had an expectation of the Messiah—the same expectation that all the Jews had. He thought the Messiah would come as a conquering king, do away with the Romans and King Herod, and reestablish a righteous kingdom in Israel. He was hopeful for that, yet Jesus didn't live up to his expectations. The Messiah did not fit what he expected, so he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask, "Are you the Christ, or should we seek another?"

Jesus told those two disciples, "Go tell John what you see: the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are preached the Gospel."

And he said something so interesting to his disciples at the end of that. Jesus said, "Go tell him, blessed are you if you're not offended with me." You see, sometimes people can come to the place of being offended with God because He didn't live up to their expectations. That's where this woman, Naomi, was at this time. God hadn't met her expectations, and yet, as I said, this book is about the redemption romance.

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, returned with her. They came out of the country of Moab and arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. I love the way that this book is written because it leaves those little to-be-continued hooks. It kind of just hooks you right there. They came into Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, and it's like a dramatic moment—what's God doing? What's happening here?

Naomi had a kinsman, a near relative of her husband, a mighty man of wealth from the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. Right there, there's another little dramatic moment. The story thickens. They come back bitter; they come back as widows. One of them is in the prime of her life, this young woman, Ruth, and the other is at the end of her life, looking at everything and saying, "Oh, you know, God has dealt harshly with me, bitterly with me. Don't call me pleasant anymore. I'm nothing but bitter."

And yet, it was the beginning of the barley harvest, and there was a wealthy man in town who was a close family member to Boaz. Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace." She goes out to seek for grace. As we saw in Hebrews chapter 11, He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Now, somewhere along the travels from Moab to Bethlehem, Naomi must have shared something of the law of God with Ruth. In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse 19, God gave His kind of social welfare plan for the children of Israel. Personally, I think it is a great plan. Obviously, God knows better than our government does, typically, or any government. And so He says, "This is how welfare..."

The purpose of gleaning is to work. If you have a poor person, someone who is fatherless, or a widow, they are to go out into the field and glean behind the reapers. As the people would go and reap the barley harvest or the wheat harvest, or they would go through the vineyard and remove all the grapes, they were only allowed to reap the middle sections of the field. They had to leave the outer perimeter for the poor, the widows, and those in need to come and gather for themselves. Those who were on the welfare of Israel had to go out and work for it. They had to gather what the reapers had dropped as they went. Anything that was left on the ground could be collected and taken home to their families. The reapers were only allowed to glean through the vineyards once. Whatever was left after their first pass was available for the poor, the widows, and the fatherless to take for themselves.

Naomi must have shared a little bit of this with Ruth. As they returned to Bethlehem, Ruth said to her mother-in-law, "I’m going to go out into the field and glean among the reapers so that we have some food because we have nothing. We're poor. Perhaps I shall find grace." Naomi replied, "Go, my daughter." Ruth went out and gleaned in the field of the reapers, and she happened to fall upon the part of the field that belonged to Boaz.

I love that right there. In fact, circle it in your Bibles or underline it: she happened upon the field of Boaz. It just so happened. Obviously, I think every single one of you would agree there are no coincidences with God. There is no "it just so happened." It didn't just so happen that you're here tonight. It doesn't just so happen anything with God because He is the one who is directing our lives. He has a plan and a purpose, and He knows what He is doing.

So here she goes to glean among the reapers, and she just happened to end up in one of Boaz's fields. Boaz was a relative of Elimelech. Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you." They answered, "The Lord bless you." Boaz then asked his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose woman is this?" The servant answered, "This is the Moabitish damsel who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, 'I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.'" So she came and has continued even from morning.

Until now, she has tarried a little while in the house. Well then, said Boaz unto Ruth, "Hearst thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field." Here the story continues to grow. The plot thickens as Boaz sees this woman gleaning in his fields whom he has never seen before. Obviously, she caught his eye, and here the love story begins.

If you picture it in your mind's eye, maybe Boaz is standing there, looking at this lady as she gleans. He is trying to get her attention, kind of saying, "Hello," hoping she will talk to him. He says to her, "Don't go glean in any of the other fields. Neither go from here, but abide here close to my maidens, close to the other ladies that are here. Let your eyes be on the field that they do reap and go there, or go after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when you are thirsty, go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn."

Here, he begins to give provision and protection to her. He tells Ruth to stick around in these fields, to hang around with these ladies who will help her out. He assures her that if she is thirsty, the young men have been instructed to be good to her, not to lay a hand upon her, and she can get water after they have drawn it for her.

Then she fell on her face, bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, "Why have I found grace in your eyes that you should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" It is interesting to note that in the law, we learn about Boaz being a man who followed the law. God told His people repeatedly in Deuteronomy, "You were strangers in Egypt, and you need to remember that when you come into the land and take care of those people who come into your land as strangers."

So she asks, "Why have I found grace in your eyes? I'm just a stranger." Boaz responds with beautiful verses in 11 and 12, saying, "It has fully been reported unto me all that you have done unto your mother-in-law since the death of her husband, and how that you have left your father and your mother and the land of your nativity and are come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. So the Lord recompense unto you your work, and a full reward be given to you of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you are come to trust."

He tells her, "I've heard about you. I've been given a full report about what you've done, and that is why you have found grace in my eyes." Then she said, "Let me find favor..."

In your 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 Your handmaids, I thank You for what You have done.

Boaz said unto her, "At mealtime, come over here and eat the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar." She sat beside the reapers, and he reached her parched corn. She did eat and was sufficed and left.

Notice this: when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves. Let her take even among what you've already reaped, and don't reproach her. Let fall some of the handfuls of purpose as you're gleaning." He instructed his men to drop a little bit every now and again so that she would have some to pick up. He told them to leave them for her and to rebuke her not.

She gleaned in the field until evening, and she beat out what she had gleaned. It was about an ephah of barley. I don't completely know what an ephah of barley is, but it was a significant amount, as we see Naomi's reaction to it here in a moment. She took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned and brought forth what she had reserved after she was sufficed.

Her mother-in-law said unto her, "Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee." She showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and she said, "The man's name of whom I had wrought today is Boaz."

As she was out there gleaning, picking up these handfuls of purpose, she was probably thinking these are the worst reapers she had ever seen. They kept dropping everything. What's going on with these guys? She came home with a great amount of barley, and her mother-in-law asked, "Where have you been today? What have you been doing? Whose field did you go to?"

Ruth replied, "I went in this guy's field; his name's Boaz." Naomi's eyes probably lit up. 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. The man is our near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen."

Now, the word in the original Hebrew language is "goel." It means he is the next of kin, the kinsman redeemer, the one who is able to purchase back the fields, to lay hold of that which is ours, and ultimately to bring forth an heir in the name of Elimelech, the one who had died. Ruth just happened upon the field of Boaz, right? In reality, we know that the Lord was directing her steps as He does ours as well.

It's interesting to me how quickly Naomi's mind changes. Just previously, she was saying, "Oh, the Lord has dealt harshly with me," and now she says, "Blessed be he of the Lord." Circumstances changed, and her mindset changed as well. Ruth the Moabitess said, "He said unto me also that you should keep fast by my young men until they have ended all my harvest." Naomi replied to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens and that they meet you not in another field."

So, Ruth kept fast by the maidens of Boaz and gleaned until the end of the barley harvest and, notice this, of the wheat harvest. She dwelt with her mother-in-law. The barley harvest was in the month of April, our month of April. The wheat harvest didn't come for a few more months, until June. Every single day, she was going out among the reapers as they harvested the grain through the barley harvest and through the wheat harvest. Boaz was keeping an eye on this girl, and she continued to go to his field as he had said.

This covers the second division of the book of Ruth, the wooing of grace, chapter 2. Now we come to chapter 3, which is the clearing of the debt. In chapter 3, verse 1, it says, "Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, 'My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz our kindred, with whose maidens thou hast been hanging out with, basically? Behold, he winnows the barley tonight in the threshing floor.'"

He was out at the threshing floor, where they would take the barley husks that they had harvested and put them on a hard rock surface. They would drag boards over the top of them with sharp rocks on them, breaking up the actual barley grain from the husks. Then they would take it and throw it up in the air, allowing the chaff to be blown away while the barley fell to the ground. Here he is after they have gathered in the harvest.

They've let it completely dry, and then they go through and start to break it up again at the threshing floor. Naomi says, "Go out to the threshing floor. Wash yourself, therefore, and anoint yourself. Put on your clothing, some nice clothes, and get down to the floor. But make not yourself known unto the man until he shall have done eating and drinking. It shall be when he lies down that you shall mark out the place where he shall lie. You shall go in and uncover his feet and lay down, and he will tell you what you shall do." Ruth replied, "All that you have said unto me, I will do."

Now, some people, when they read this, think, "What kind of weird thing is going on here? This sounds kind of strange." She's going down to the threshing floor where Boaz is, and the harvest was a joyful time. God speaks through Isaiah about when the Messiah comes, that He will bring joy like at the time of the harvest. The people would work hard all day long, and at the end of the day, they would have a feast together.

Naomi instructs Ruth to go down there and, right as they're having the feast, to stay out in the bushes and not let anybody see her. After Boaz has eaten and is well drunk, he goes to lay down. Often, they would sleep outside in the fields to guard the harvest they had brought in, not wanting anyone to come and steal what they had worked on all day long.

Naomi tells Ruth that after he falls asleep, she should uncover his feet and lay down at his feet, and he will tell her what to do. The interesting thing is that, as you study a little bit of Jewish cultural history during that time, you find that this was the position of the servants. The head servant of Boaz typically would lay there at the feet of the master, ready to do whatever he wanted him to do.

Just as we see with Mary seated at the feet of Jesus in the New Testament, Martha was busy with much service, but where was Mary? She was sitting at His feet, which was the position of submission, recognizing that He is an authority and a ruler over her.

So, Naomi says to Ruth, "Go and find where he is, and when he goes down to sleep, just lay at his feet, and he will tell you what to do." In verse 6, Ruth went down to the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law told her to do. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry—he was a little tipsy—he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. Ruth came softly, uncovered his feet, and laid down.

It came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid.

He turned himself and behold, a woman lay at his feet. He was kind of shocked at this. What was going on? He said, "Who are you?" She answered, "I am Ruth, your handmaid. Spread forth thy skirt over your handmaid, for you are the near of kin. You are the kinsman redeemer. You are the goel." She was offering him the opportunity to purchase back the field and all the things that belonged to Elimelech, as we will see here in just a moment.

He said, "Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for you have showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you did not follow after the young men, whether poor or rich." He acknowledged that she had not been going around with the other guys in town and had done nothing wrong. He continued, "Blessed be thou of the Lord, and now, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that you require, for all the city of my people doth know that you are a virtuous woman."

Circle that verse, if you would. He looked at her and said, "You are a virtuous woman." He had watched her and taken note, and everyone in the city recognized that she was a woman of virtue. I encourage you to read Proverbs 31 and consider what that means for a virtuous woman.

Now, it is true that I am near of kin; however, there is a kinsman nearer than I. There is another one who is a little bit closer to this whole situation. "Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of the kinsman, good; let him do the kinsman part. But if he will not do the part of the kinsman to thee, then I will do the part of the kinsman to thee, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning."

She lay at his feet until morning and rose up before one could know or discern one another. He said unto her, "Let it not be known that the woman came forth unto the threshing floor." He then said, "Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee and hold it." She brought forth the veil she had, and when she held it, he measured out six measures of barley unto her and laid it on her.

She went into the city, and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "Who art thou, my daughter?" It was still early in the morning when she told her all that the man had done to her. She said, "These six measures..."

Of barley gave he unto me, for he said, "Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law." Then Naomi said, "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fail." Notice this: the man will not rest until he has finished this thing this day. He is not going to rest until he is done with this whole situation; he will take care of this today. So just sit still; don't worry about it.

Now, obviously, she was probably very excited at this point, and it was probably difficult to sit and rest.

Now, chapter 4, the fourth division: the removal of the debt. It says, "Then went Boaz up to the gate, and he sat himself down there. Behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came unto him. He said, 'Oh, such a one, turn aside, sit down here.' And he turned aside and sat down. He took ten men of the elders of the city, and they sat down there as well.

He said unto the kinsman, 'Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, sells a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech. I thought to advertise thee, saying, "Buy it before the inhabitants and before the elders of my people."'

Now, it's important to understand what's going on here. Every single one of the people in Israel was given a parcel of land as their inheritance when they came into the Promised Land. That land was passed down through the family. Elimelech had this property; he had a piece of land. But remember, Naomi has come back from Moab, Elimelech is dead, and Naomi has nothing. All she can really do is sell this field to get some money to take care of her and her daughter-in-law.

But see, that piece of land was supposed to stay in the family. It was supposed to stay there for Elimelech and his inheritance. They wanted to keep the land in the family. Boaz was next of kin; he was part of Elimelech's family. However, this other kinsman was closer in relation to Elimelech.

So he goes and calls this kinsman redeemer before the elders of the city. This was kind of where the judges would assemble at the city gates. He says to them, "Naomi has come back from Moab, and she's going to sell this piece of land. If we don't buy it, if we don't take hold of it, then somebody else is going to take it out of our family. We have to do something about this."

Well, he presents the whole situation to this next of kin. He says in verse 4, "If you will redeem it, then redeem it. But if you will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for there is none to redeem it besides thee, and I am after thee."

He said, "I will redeem it." I almost get the picture, and I’m probably reading a little too much into it, but of course, Naomi and Ruth are a little bit excited. I kind of figure they’re probably standing off to the side, watching this whole thing, taking note. I picture this next of kin to be some old guy, you know, kind of feeble. There he is, and he goes, "Yeah, I’ll buy the piece of land. Yeah, sounds good." Ruth's heart probably sank. Oh no! I have no doubt that Boaz's heart probably sank a little bit too, but he had another card to play.

See, with this field came not just a right, but also an obligation to provide an heir for Elimelech's family. This means he would have to marry Ruth and take her to be his wife, bringing forth an heir for Elimelech's family to keep this land and inheritance in their family. So, Boaz had that little card up his sleeve, and now he brings out the Ruth card.

In verse 5, Boaz said, "Well, the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from the hand of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." Boaz says, "Well, that’s good that you want to buy that field because it’s a really important thing to do, and we need to keep it in the family. But there is a minor little thing here you’ve got to remember: the day you buy that field, you’re going to have to marry Ruth."

This guy, no doubt, probably had a wife and a family. Maybe that wife wouldn’t be too happy about this whole situation. So, the kinsman, in verse 6, said, "I cannot redeem it myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. Redeem thou my right to yourself, for I cannot redeem it." He says, "Oh goodness, oy vey! I don’t know if I can do that." You know, they’re Jewish, so they say stuff like that. He goes, "I don’t think I can do that, so you go ahead, Boaz, and do it."

Now, this was the manner in the former time of Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing. To confirm all things, a man would pluck off his shoe and give it to his neighbor, and it was a testimony in Israel. Therefore, the kinsman said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," so he drew off his shoe.

This is another interesting thing culturally speaking that we here in the West don’t completely grasp. Do you remember when Iraq fell, and Saddam Hussein was no longer in power? They were tearing down all those big statues of Saddam.

You see these guys take off their sandals and hit Saddam with their sandals. Did you see that on the news? In this culture, that is an extremely shameful thing. The bottom of the foot is considered the dirtiest part of the human body, and so it is just unclean; it's a dirty thing.

This is kind of an interesting thing that takes place in the book of Deuteronomy. If a man had a wife and he died without having children, his brother was to take his wife and produce an heir for his family. However, if the brother said, "I'm not going to do it," he would take off his shoe and give it to her, symbolizing his refusal. The law stated that she would spit in his face, as a way of expressing her outrage. It was a shameful thing for him to refuse.

In the story, this man tells Boaz, "I can't take it, but I'm giving you the opportunity." So, he gives him the shoe. We read in verse 9 that Boaz said to the elders and the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have brought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Kilion's and all that was Mahalon's at the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, I have purchased to be my wife. I have redeemed her to be my bride." He explains that he is doing this to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, so that the name of the dead will not be cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place. "You are witnesses this day."

Before the witnesses of the city and the elders, Boaz declares that he is purchasing everything that belonged to Elimelech and his two sons. It's interesting because Orpah, the wife of Kilion, went back to Moab. Boaz would have done the same for her; he would have purchased everything back for her as well, but she didn't hold on. As a result, she received no inheritance.

Earlier, we talked about the two different commitments to following the Lord. One commitment is half-hearted, where someone says, "Oh yeah, I want to follow the Lord," but ultimately they go back to their old life. Then you have the commitment of Ruth, who continues on and receives an inheritance. Orpah would have received an inheritance had she stuck around. Boaz states, "I have purchased Ruth to be my wife to raise up a name for the dead." The people in the gate and the elders respond, "We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman."

That has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which too did build the house of Israel. Do you worthily in Ephrath and be famous in Bethlehem? Let thy house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.

So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife. When he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. The women said unto Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. He shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter-in-law, which loves thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, has borne him."

Naomi took the child and laid him upon her bosom and became a nurse unto the child, just like a good grandmother. The women, her neighbors, gave it a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi," and they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron, Hezron begot Ram, Ram begot Amenadab, Amenadab begot Nashon, Nashon begot Salmon, Salmon begot Boaz, Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

An interesting story, but what does it all mean? When you break it down, I think you've already seen some of the allusions to the New Testament. We've talked about 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and 11 many times, that all these things were written for our instruction, for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the age are come. Many of these stories in the Old Testament are pictures that illustrate the principles of the New Testament.

Here we have the kinsman redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us. But there was a nearer of kin, and that redeemer could not redeem. Who was that redeemer? Well, turn over in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8, verse 3, and you'll see the answer to that question. It's so important.

In Romans chapter 8, we read there, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."

We were put under a former covenant, the covenant of the law of God. However, the law cannot save you; it cannot redeem. Just like this nearer of kin could not redeem the land of Elimelech and ultimately Ruth, Boaz, whose name means strength, comes in and is able to redeem that which the law could not do because it was weak. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh.

Boaz came to purchase back, to redeem the land, and ultimately to receive a bride in the same way that Jesus did. The beautiful thing about this is that when we read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, this woman, a Moabitess and a Gentile, is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus and King David. In Matthew chapter 1, verse 5, we also read about another individual, Tamar. Just before that, in verse 4, it says Judah begot Perez and Zerah of Tamar. Tamar was a harlot, and she finds herself in the story of the genealogy of Jesus because of the grace of God.

Moving on from that, verse 5 states that Salmon begot Boaz of whom? Rahab. Who was Rahab? She was a harlot who lived in the city of Jericho, a Gentile. Yet, in His grace, we find her in the genealogy of Jesus. Then, moving on from there, we find Ruth from Moab. Boaz begot Obed of Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse.

There, the grace of God is evident as Ruth went out faithfully, following her mother-in-law, saying, "Where you go, I will go; your God will be my God." She gave up her old life to follow after the one true God. This is a beautiful redemption story: the bitterness of death, the wooing of grace, the clearing of the debt, and the removal of it. Only Jesus is the one who is able to remove that debt. The law can't do it, nor could the kinsman redeemer that was ahead of Boaz.

I couldn't do it; I wasn't strong enough. But Boaz's strength comes in and redeems, just as Christ has redeemed us. He purchased the field. What is the field? This earth. He bought it back so that He could receive and redeem a bride. It is a beautiful story, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful love stories ever.

In fact, I was reading through some material this week about Benjamin Franklin. When he was an ambassador of the United States to France, he used to go to a literary club called the Infidels Club. There, the members condemned the Bible; they wanted nothing to do with it. Benjamin Franklin really wasn't a Bible-thumping Christian; he didn't follow the Lord in a traditional sense. Yet, he still had a respect for the Bible, as did most of the founders of our nation.

Franklin took the book of Ruth and wrote it out in his own hand. He changed the names of all the people so that they wouldn't recognize it as Israelite names or as being from the Bible. He went to the Infidels Club and read this story to them. They loved literature, and afterwards, they were all astounded. They said, "This is the most beautiful love story we've ever heard! Where did you find it?" He replied, "It's in the Bible that you guys so condemn and hate." They were blown away by it.

It is indeed a beautiful story about the redemption that God desires to bring into our lives. This is the great love story: that God became a man so that He could die and, from His side, bring forth a bride. Amen. We are the bride of Christ.

Let's stand and pray. Lord, we do thank You for the truth of Your Word. I ask, Lord, that You would help us to make these connections and correlations as we read through Your Word and understand what it is that You are trying to reveal to us. These aren't just archaic stories or folklore; these are historical records of Your people, written down for us that we might learn from them. Many of them have applications for us, typical understandings that we can learn from and see how the principles of the New Testament apply.

So, Lord, I pray that You would help us to read Your Word with that in mind and that we would take it to heart. We thank You that You, Jesus, became a man and died for us so that we could be Your bride. You redeemed us out of the death of the world, removed us from the bitterness of death, and brought us into grace.

Joy of the Holy Spirit, we ask that You would continue to strengthen us in Your Word, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.