Ruth 1-4, Recovering From Life’s Greatest Difficulties
1. Make A Full Commitment To God (Ruth 1)
2. Be Willing To Work Hard In God’s Provision (Ruth 2)
3. Ask For God’s Word To Be Fulfilled (Ruth 3)
4. Wait For Your Redeemer To Do His Work (Ruth 4)
We're going to begin by looking at verses one through 5 here in Ruth chapter one, and so let's go ahead and read through that, and then we'll dive into the message that God has for us.
Ruth chapter one verse one says now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land.
And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab.
He and his wife and his two sons.
The name of the man was a limb aleck.
The name of his wife was Naomi and the names of his two sons were Malaan and Chilean.
Ephrathite's of Bethlehem Judah and they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech Naomi husband died and she was left.
And her two sons.
Now they took wives of the women of Moab, the name of one was orpea.
And the name of the.
Other was Ruth.
And they dwelt there about 10 years.
Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died.
So the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
As we consider the book of Ruth this evening, we're jumping into the midst.
Of a very difficult situation.
We're jumping into the life of Naomi, who has experienced.
Difficulty after difficulty really devastation after devastation. The book is named after Naomi's daughter in law Ruth who.
Experienced much of this difficulty along with her mother in law and Naomi.
And really, this book centers around her because she becomes the central figure that God wants to use to further the promised.
Messiah that will come and she will become part of the fulfillment to Abraham.
The promise that was given to him of the Savior coming through him.
She will be the fulfillment to that God is going to bring forth later on a savior through the line of David.
She is going to be part of the genealogy of David.
As she becomes a great, great, great, great great grandmother for David, I don't know if I had the right amount of grades in there, but she's part of this plan of God that God is working out that comes forth from the midst of these really challenging circumstances.
Now it tells us here in the beginning that it was happening around the time of the judges, and so we just came out of the book of judges.
And as we saw on Sunday, really, there was just an incredibly dark.
Time during the time of judges, great wickedness, everybody did what was right in their own eyes, and that doesn't mean that everybody was doing good.
It means that there was abundant wickedness in the land, and it's like on that dark backdrop that God brings forth this beautiful picture here.
In the book of Ruth and really, the book of Ruth is full of really beautiful pictures of different elements of God's law in action and the foretelling, the foreshadowing of the Savior.
Again, there's so much here.
It's a wealth and abundance of treasures that we can consider here in the book.
Of Ruth, but as we walk through the book tonight I I wanted to kind of zero in on and focus on Ruth herself and kind of follow along the journey from from her perspective or or along with her.
Now we could look at Naomi.
We could look at Boaz.
We could look at these different aspects and the prophetic elements.
But I was really drawn to Ruth herself.
And considering what she was going through, and so we find from the beginning that she was married into this family.
They had moved from Bethlehem, so if you remember the geography a little bit, Bethlehem was there in the tribe of Judah and.
Yeah, a little bit South of Jerusalem and it becomes a prominent place, of course, because that's later on where Jesus is going to be born and Jesus is going.
To be born.
There is because, well, that's where Naomi and her husband were from, and that's where she goes back to.
Along with Ruth later on.
Here in this book.
But so, this family.
Is experiencing famine.
There's famine in the land, so they run down to Moab.
It's about a 50 mile.
Or so they head over to Moab and try to seek refuge there and find provision there.
But what they find there is just more difficulty.
They run from famine to Moab, but then the husband dies while they're in Moab, and so now it's just Naomi and her two sons.
And so here two sons get married and they try to make a life for themselves.
They're in Moab and kind of recover from the difficulty that they're experiencing, but then the two sons die and so now you can see kind of the the challenges really mounting.
But for a widow in those days, there was really great challenges because it was a culture that was really dependent upon, you know, a man's ability to provide for the family and protects the family. And so a widow in those days would be incredibly vulnerable usually.
Incredibly poor and and the family was already poor because they had sold their land in Bethlehem to go to Moab, but now they've kind of lost everything and so Naomi is going to be heading back to Bethlehem with nothing and.
Ruth comes along with her and we see this in chapter one.
Jump into verse 6.
It tells us.
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread.
Therefore, she went out from the place where she was with her two daughters in law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah and Naomi said.
We were two daughters in law go return each to our mother house.
The Lord Deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me the Lord Grant that you may find rest each in the House of her husband.
So she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept and they said to her surely we will return with you to your people.
But Naomi said, turn back my daughters, why will you go with me?
Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands?
Turn back my daughters, go for I am too old to have a husband.
If I should say I have hope if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear son.
Would you wait for them till they were grown?
Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands know my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again.
And or if I kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Here is we see this family really struggle with what to do next and how to handle themselves.
Naomi hears that the famine is over in Bethlehem and so she decides it's time to go back.
I don't have anything here.
There's no one to provide for me.
Maybe back home amongst.
Family amongst the people of God.
There'll be a better place for me and so.
She heads out, but.
As she heads out the daughters in law are journeying with her.
But somewhere along the journey, she begins to realize, like wow, this probably isn't a good idea.
But for these two to come back with her, there's not much she can offer them.
They they probably are going to be better off if they go back to their own homes and you know, seek to start over start.
New lives are still very young and so Orpea Andrews, she says.
Why don't you guys head back and at first both of them say no way we're we're staying with you.
We're going with you all the way back to your people, but as Naomi continues to kind of layout the situation listening girls like, I'm not.
I'm gonna have another son and you're not going to wait 20 years for him to be old enough to marry him and like it doesn't make sense.
I can't promise you anything in the in the land of Israel.
I can't promise that you're going to be able to start a new life.
You're you're coming from a foreign land.
There's not going to be a lot of guys you know.
Back in my hometown that are going.
To be excited to.
Marry outside of the Nation of Israel like you're not really in a good place.
If you come back with me and there's no guarantees.
If you come back with me, and so orbes convinced and she says OK, it's really sad.
I don't want to, but I I'll go back to my home.
But it tells us there at the end of verse 14 that Ruth clung.
To Naomi
She refused.
When Orpea turned back after a couple times of of conversations, Ruth said no.
Tonight as we talk about recovering from life, greatest difficulties.
There's four things I want to highlight from the life of Ruth and the first one is found here in chapter one in the next verses that we'll look at in just a moment.
But the point is to make a full commitment to God.
As Ruth is seeking to navigate forward in this time, she's trying to figure out what comes next.
For me as a widow, what comes next for me as a daughter-in-law to another widow, like theirs disaster upon disaster, moving to a strange new land?
What comes next?
For me, we find something really incredible about Ruth.
And that is her commitment.
To the Lord, check out verse 16 and 17 here in Ruth chapter when it says but Ruth's.
Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you for wherever you go I will go.
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.
Where you die I will die and there I will be buried.
The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts, you and me here you can see a great loyalty, a great love and affection that Ruth has for Naomi.
But it's not just a bond between the.
Two of them.
She weaves into this commitment to this declaration that she makes her trust in God in in the God of Naomi and I.
I think it's interesting, although you look at Naomi and you know, in a few moments as she heads back.
She's going to say, you know, don't call me Naomi anymore.
Naomi means pleasant as she gets back home and everybody says, hey, Naomi, back, Naomi, back and there's a little bit of a celebration.
She's like, you know, don't celebrate so much don't call me pleasant call me Mara bitterness.
Because the world has been bitter towards me, life has been bitter. Life has been challenging and you can see her expressing the difficulty that she's going through right at the same time, there's something about Naomi's life.
There's something about Naomi's.
Relationship with God and trust in God and their family as a whole.
Perhaps in the time that she's been part of the family.
Married to one of Naomi's sons that that that there has been a connection that Ruth has had with.
God that she did not have before the Moabites did not worship the God of Israel.
They worshiped their own false God, the primary God that they worshipped.
I think his name was chemosh and it was a very immoral and Ugly God to worship, but that was their God.
But as she's been part of this.
Family she's discovered the true and living God.
And although they've experienced great difficulty and hardship.
Watching her mother in law experience these things, walking with her mother in law through some of these things.
Perhaps being part of the decision process right and reasoning out, you know how it must have been right for Naomi to go back wasn't just to wake up one morning, all right?
I'm going back to Bethlehem, right?
It was probably days, weeks, maybe months of of discussing, talking, negotiating, figuring out the opportunities.
And what might happen and and as Ruth is engaged with Naomi and and walking through all of this.
She's not just attached to Naomi, they don't just.
Have the bond.
But but she's been struck by the the reality of God.
And she wants to go with Naomi because Naomi is with God.
She wants to be where Naomi is because Naomi is with God and and so she is saying no, I I am with you and and her commitment.
To Naomi and her commitment to God is full and complete.
She very beautifully describes this commitment.
As she says, don't don't ask me to turn back wherever you go.
I will go.
I'm with you, Naomi.
We go to Bethlehem.
I'll go with you to Bethlehem.
You want to go back to Moab.
I'll go back to Moab with you.
You want to go to northern Israel?
I'll go to northern Israel with you wherever you go.
I'm with you no matter what.
Wherever you lodge you want to stay here, you want to stay there.
I'll stay with you along the way.
Your people shall be my people.
I'm I'm part of your family, Naomi.
I'm not leaving you, I'm not departing from you.
I am I'm going to be connected to you permanently.
And to your God, your God is now my God.
I have learned to trust the true and living God.
I've learned to know him.
I've learned to walk with him and I'm not going to depart from that.
I'm going to walk with you, Naomi and I'm going to walk with the Lord as you do to death, where you die there I will die.
That's where I'll be buried.
Where you die from from right now everywhere you go in between here and death I will be with you and there I want to be buried.
With you as well.
If anything but death parts us, she says.
May the Lord deal with me, she she is making a very clear, beautiful, articulate commitment to Naomi and to the Lord.
As we think about the position that Ruth is in, she is recovering from life greatest difficulty.
Probably you know, up to this point in her life, we can imagine this was the greatest difficulty she's ever had to face.
But she begins to recover from it.
She begins to move forward from it in the right place, having a full commitment to God and and being able to express and to have this position.
This this attitude.
This commitment in her mind that that till the very end.
She will be faithful.
Unto the Lord, unto Naomi, and unto the Lord, who is Naomi, God?
And so there's a lot of beautiful things that happen in chapter one.
But as we continue on into Chapter 2.
They make it back to Bethlehem and they start to get settled there.
Word starts to spread that Naomi is back and so now they're back, but they don't have anything still, so it's not like they get back and then everything is instantly better.
They get back and well, they had sold their land.
As they moved to Moab so they don't have much to go back to, we don't know exactly how they're making ends meet or how they're surviving.
Probably staying with relatives and so as they're back in the land of Bethlehem, now they need to try to start over, start something new, and so that's what begins to develop.
Here in Ruth Chapter 2.
It brings us the point though. .2 as we look at Ruth Chapter 2 is be willing to work hard in God provision. They go back to the land that they were from, or at least where Naomi was from.
The place where God has provided for them, but it's not that everything then is just given to them.
Now there's going to be hard work involved for Ruth as she goes forward in recovering from this great difficulty.
Check out verse or chapter 2 verses one it says.
There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
So Ruth, the Moabitess, said to Naomi, please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain after him, in whose sight I.
May find favor.
And she said to her, go, my daughter, then she left and went, and gleaned in the field after the Reapers.
And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
And So what we find here is as they head back to the land of Bethlehem.
They are hungry, they need some food.
They need to start providing for themselves.
And how is that going to happen again?
In their culture?
In their time there there wasn't a lot of opportunity for them.
They couldn't just, you know, start a business and start selling.
You know something that they could make or create they they didn't have a lot of options in those days.
It was usually up to the husband or the son to provide for the women of the family.
And So what are they going to do well?
Ruth, it tells us begins to.
Ask Naomi for permission.
To go to work in the fields now this was not working in the fields as the sense of like you go and you work for somebody and you get paid for it.
This work in the fields was based on the law that God had given in Leviticus Chapter 19, and I think this is an important part to consider in God provision.
Leviticus chapter 19.
God gave this law to the land owners.
He says when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, and you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard.
You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.
I am the Lord.
Your God.
God says landowners.
When you're harvesting your land, you need to do so in.
A particular way.
Don't harvest every bit of fruit from your land.
Don't harvest the corners.
Leave the edges.
Leave some places where there is still some of the crop on on the vine or on the stalks.
When you're harvesting your vineyard, don't get every grape.
But leave some behind for the poor and for the stranger, and so God built into his law.
This provision for the poor to be able to provide for themselves by going into the field, it's called gleaning.
They would go after the workers went through the field.
God said hey, you only get to go one pass.
Through the field.
To the land owners, you get one pass to harvest your fruit.
Don't go back and go collect the rest of the remnants afterwards but but just go one time through.
Collect what you can.
That's your harvest and the rest leave for the poor for the stranger.
In this case, for the widow to be able to come through and.
Be provided for, they get to receive the provision through this field that has not been fully harvested.
And so it's a provision that God had made for his people, and Ruth says, you know, I know about this provision.
This this is what God has commanded, this is.
What God is established.
And so Naomi I want to go.
And I want to bring us in some food she's willing.
To go put in some hard work now, even though this was God's provision, it was hard work to go out there and to glean the fields it was, you know, being out there in the sun to work and to labor to harvest the fruit off.
Of the crop that had been grown, and so here.
Ruth is willing to get to work.
She's willing to go put in some time and to work hard and and she does.
She kind of develops a little bit of a reputation for it.
As you continue on in verse four, it says, now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the Reapers, the Lord be with you.
And they answered him, the Lord bless you.
Then Boaz said to his servant, who is in charge of the Reapers, whose young woman is this?
So the servant who is in charge of the Reapers answered and said it is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab, and she said, please let me glean and gather after the Reapers among the sheaves.
So she came and has continued from morning until now.
Though she rested a little.
In the house.
Here the as Boaz shows up.
You can see you know first of all he has a love for the Lord and he he's always blessing people.
Blessid, are you in the name of the Lord as he comes in and and the people respond?
Bless bless you boys.
And there's there's this camaraderie here in this.
Fellowship that they have and so you can see as a landowner.
Boaz is a man of great reputation, and he's got a good relationship with those who are working his field.
But as he comes, he notices Ruth.
She gets his attention and perhaps it's love at first sight.
You know, sometimes the book of Ruth has talked about, you know, the great romance that takes place here in the book of Ruth and I find that a little bit humorous.
And maybe it's just 'cause I'm a guy and not that romantic but.
As you read through this, you know there's some parts that I would call out and say I don't know how romantic that is.
If that was to happen in, you know our lives today, there might.
Not it might.
Not be seen as as very romantic, but behind the scenes and between the verses with things that aren't mentioned, I'm.
Sure, there's definitely room for for there to be a lot of romance that happens here, but so he sees her ** *** catches his attention.
And as.
He sees her, he asks about her, and here's what the servants say.
The servants say, Oh yeah, she's the Moabite.
Since everybody heard about her right, small town Bethlehem, she comes into town.
Everybody hears about Naomi back and she's brought this foreigner back.
And maybe there's you know, some reputation that goes along with that we don't know.
But they note that she's been working hard.
She she worked so hard she.
Had to rest.
For a little.
Bit it's not that she's here, just.
Asking for a handout.
She's not just there trying to look pretty and try to like con people out of their their the harvest that they, you know.
How can I have a basket you know?
And and she she's not there.
You know, trying to get out of work.
She's there, working hard, working so hard.
That she had to rest for a little bit.
This was the report that the servants gave to Boaz as he inquired about her, and so Ruth is is here and and she's working hard in the field.
This is kind of early in the day.
It tells us that she continues on.
And then they have lunch together.
Boaz offers a little bit of his lunch.
He kind of brings her near and she gets to eat lunch with him and whoever else was with him there at the table.
So so he invites her in.
There's this opportunity for a little bit more.
Closeness or getting to know each other, but then after lunch she goes back to work and she continues to work until the end of the day.
Boaz says hey, while you're here, Ruth likes tea in my field, I'll protect you.
I, I think that's the important part to mention here.
Do do do do do verse 11 Boaz answered and said to her.
It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother in law since the death of your husband and how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before the Lord.
Repay your work and a full reward.
Be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wing?
Things you have come for refuge, Boaz says look, I've heard about you.
You have a good reputation.
You have, you know, have this reputation of being faithful and loyal.
And you've made this bold move, and I'm I'm believing that God wants to bless you and I want to be part of that Boaz is saying.
He goes on to say.
Verse 15 when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying let her glean even among the sheaves and do not reproach her.
Also let grain from bundles fall purposely for her.
Leave it that she may glean and do not rebuke her.
He tells Ruth stay in my fields, stay with my guys, draw water or get water from the water that they draw.
See stay under my protection.
Now this is.
Really significant as you factor in back to chapter one verse one.
This all happened in the days of the judges, right?
Again, on Sunday we saw the darkness, the wickedness of the time of the judges, and so it.
Was a dangerous.
Time, Ruth Boaz is saying look, don't just go wandering field to field the field.
Might easily encounter the the wrong group of guys the wrong group of people and you would be in great trouble.
So stay here.
Let me provide for you.
Let me protect you.
I'll tell my guys to to to watch over you and now he even instructs them to, you know, just he pulls them off and leave him on the ground for her like make it easy for her to.
Be able to collect.
The gleanings of the field verse 17 so she gleaned in the field until evening and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
So she.
Worked until evening.
Then she beat it out so she worked some more and then she carried at home.
Now the amount that she carried home her mother-in-law, Naomi is surprised by it.
She's like, whoa, you got a lot today, like she wasn't expecting that much return.
So someone must have helped you.
And and Naomi begins.
To make the connection and understands what is happening here with Boaz, but but what we see here is Ruth.
Put in a hard day's work.
But it wasn't just this one day.
In verse 23, at the end of the chapter, it says so she stayed close by the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest, and she dwelt with her.
Mother in law.
So it wasn't.
Just the one day or the one week that Ruth was there gathering and working hard in the field.
It was for the whole harvest that she would go back to work and she would work in the the field and gather what she could.
She would bring it home.
She she is willing.
To really do some hard work in this.
Law that got it provided in, you know, the gathering of the the fruit after the workers have gone through the field that it was God provision.
But at the same time it required some hard work.
Sometimes when we're looking for God to provide.
We we want the lazy version of God's provision, right? Like I want to just sit here and then.
God, you provide and sometimes God does that and we're blessed and we rejoice in that.
But many times as we look at.
What God wants to do and the provision that God wants to.
Bring what God asks of us is to be willing to put in some hard work.
And I think as as we consider this, you know, thinking about again, the idea of recovering from life greatest difficulties.
There is going to be a lot of challenges in life.
Some of the challenges that we have.
May parallel the things that Ruth experience or they might be different kinds of challenges.
It's it might be family or financial, emotional, different kinds of challenges that we face.
But as we seek to work through them, these are the things that are really important.
These are the.
Things that that help us to navigate through those things we need to make a full commitment to God that that there's challenges as a part of life.
There's difficulties as a part of life.
It's part of the reality of living in a world that is impacted by the fall by sin itself.
And there's no escaping that there.
There is no you know life option that is without difficulty or without challenges.
It is a part of life.
But as we commit ourselves to God, we are on the journey to Bethlehem, right?
We're on the journey to the place where God wants us as we commit ourselves to the Lord, we're going in the right direction.
Because close to the Lord is where we need to be.
God wants what's best for us.
He knows what's best for us.
He knows how to give us what's best for us and he has all power and all might in the universe to bring about all things so that we experience what is best for us.
So it's all there.
But at the same time, experiencing.
The fruit of that.
Means that we need to be willing to put.
In some hard work.
That it's not all just going to be handed to us.
Some recovery is going to be incredible amounts of work.
I mean, if you think about it, you know in the sense of a broken bone.
When I broke my foot and I was not able to put any weight on my foot for I think it was nine months.
Then there was a.
Recovery after that that when I began to.
Put weight on it, that it wasn't just OK.
Now I can just walk again like normal, but now it was like OK, put a little bit of weight and it was hard work and and you had to push through and other injuries.
You know that that people have experienced and there's physical therapy involved, and it's a great deal of work to recover from those kinds of difficulties.
But there is a recovery and and that's the the point that that we get to see played out through the life of Ruth.
There is a recovery.
It starts with a commitment to God.
It continues with the willingness to put.
In the work.
And again, whether we're talking about a financial difficulty, a family difficulty, and emotional difficulty, whatever kind of difficulty we might be facing, a struggle in the flesh, perhaps that that there is some effort.
Now this is not works.
In order to be pleasing to God or works in order to be saved, but it's work.
To experience the provision that God has made for us again, he made the provision in Leviticus Chapter 19.
Here's how you can be provided for.
And built into that provision was.
Work notice he doesn't say OK, landowners, you harvest the whole field.
And then save a little bit of a.
Portion for the poor.
Now he actually does say hey of the amount that you harvest there is to be a giving to the poor every three years.
So there was to be that kind of generosity and charity at the same time there was built into this provision.
He leaves some behind so that others who are willing to put in some hard work can go and fend for themselves and provide for themselves in your field that that God wants to provide for us many times.
By involving us in the work by bringing us into the field to put in some hard days worked.
For a season for a harvest.
To provide for our needs and to experience his provision as we do.
Well, as we continue on to Ruth chapter three that this has continued on now for a season for a harvest.
It's the end of the harvest now and things begin to change a little bit as Naomi begins to counsel Ruth with some insights from the Lord.
I would suggest that she has and so here's point #3 for us to consider in Ruth Chapter 3 and that is.
Ask for God's word to be fulfilled. Ask for God's word to be fulfilled. Check out Chapter 3, verse one.
Then Naomi, her mother in law, said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be?
Well with you.
Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative.
In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
Therefore, wash yourself.
And anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor.
But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
Then it shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down.
And he will tell you.
What you should do, and she said to her all that you say to me, I will.
Naomi begins to instruct Ruth.
At the end of the harvest, there is a bit of a celebration amongst the community and at the threshing floor there's going to be this celebration.
This feast that happens now typically for them.
In those days, the threshing floor was not necessarily like each family had their own, but usually there was a community.
Floor and they would all share the use of it and and so Naomi hears about the schedule she hears about Boaz, his time at the threshing floor, and he's going to bring in his harvest and and thresh it there.
And and there's going to be a feast and a celebration, and she says, OK, now is the time, Ruth.
After the feast, when he's full and happy.
He's going to go.
Take a nap.
Not really, take a nap.
Sleep through.
The night, but.
Head over to him, meet him there, uncover his feet so that.
During the night, he'll.
Be awake and cool breeze perhaps.
Runs across his feet and he says woo my feet are cold.
What's going on?
He'll wake up, he'll see.
You there and.
Then it will begin this opportunity to have a conversation now.
I hope it's not necessary, but just in case it is, there's nothing immoral.
There's nothing sexual about this whole encounter exchange.
Notice the fact that.
Let let's see verse 4 then it shall be when.
He lies down.
That you shall notice the place where he lies.
And why was that important for her to notice the police that he lies down?
It's because he wasn't alone.
It's not that he.
Was there in the threshing floor?
All by himself.
It was because there was going to be a group of people 'cause it was a big celebration.
A big feast that.
Were there and so she says, notice where he lies down and then you can go to him because, well, it's going to be dark and there's going to be a lot of people in there and so.
You need to make sure that you know that you're proposing to the right person.
Not some other.
Guy so so notice where he lies down go and cover his feet and then all that.
I tell you then here, well, she's going to tell her what to say, so let's jump in #6.
So she went down to the threshing floor and did, according to all that her mother in law instructed her.
And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
And she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled and turned himself and there was a woman lying at his feet and he said, who are you?
So she answered, I am Ruth your maidservant.
Take your maidservant under your wing for you or a close relative.
Here what Ruth is doing essentially is proposing to Boaz, so you're saying.
Take me under your wing.
That is.
Bring me under your household.
That that I would become.
Your bride.
Your wife and part of your family.
Now there's a combination of things that are happening here.
As Ruth is giving this opportunity to Boaz, there's a law of redemption that is kind of happening behind the scenes, and God is established.
In his law, a couple types of redemption that are important for us to note. First of all, in Leviticus chapter 25.
Got established that the land of Israel should not be sold permanently.
That the people of Israel again the we call it the their inheritance.
They were given portions of land for each family and and God intended for those portions of land to remain in the family.
But recognizing that there would be challenges that there would be different seasons of life and land would be sold because of need and various situations.
God says OK.
The land can be sold, but.
And the year of Jubilee, the land needs to return back to the original family. So every 49 years, then the land would return back to the original family.
And in between those 49 years got established in his law. Here Leviticus 25. Verse 24 in the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land that is there.
There must remain the opportunity, so if I, you know, get into financial streets and I sell my home to Rick.
We build into the contract Rick, all right.
If I recover from this two years from now and am able to buy back my home, you have to sell it back to me.
You can't then refuse and say, Nope, you know finders keepers losers weepers, you know like you're stuck.
You know, Nope, built into the law of God built into every land.
Deal in Israel.
Was this law of redemption.
That if there was later on a change of circumstances, the person was able to buy back the land that they had sold previously, but then also built into this law. Verse 25 of Leviticus 25 is, well, the idea of a family.
Redeemer or redeeming relative, also known as the Kinsman Redeemer sometimes.
And so maybe I'm not able to.
By the House back, but my dad comes in and says hey, I'm close relative.
Mr Rick Dominguez and you need to sell me back that home at a fair price that Jerry sold to you.
'cause 'cause I'm the redeeming relative and I've come in to redeem what has been sold by my family.
And so there was this ability to buy back the property that had been sold, and so this is what happened.
Only Molec had sold his property again the the the Famine was great.
There was desperation.
They sold their property.
They moved to Moab.
As they come back now, Ruth and Naomi, they they don't have the land they.
Don't have anything.
The land has been sold.
It's not the year of Jubilee yet, so it hasn't returned to the family.
And so she as she asked Boaz to take her under the covering of his wing, under the covering of his garment, she's.
Saying bring me back into the family, but along with that is this field that.
Needs to be purchased that will be bought as as well and again. The second part of this law that is being fulfilled here is from Deuteronomy Chapter 25 where if.
There is a marriage that happens, but the man dies before the there's a child born or a son that is born.
Then one of the men brothers is to marry the wife to bring for the son in the.
Original husband name so that there would be someone to carry on the lineages of that man.
And So what Ruth is proposing to Boaz here is that he would step in, fulfill this role.
Bring forth a son in the name of.
Her original husband and.
That that son would inherit the land that had originally been sold by Elimelech, and so this is all the things that are happening here.
And So what she is asking for.
As for the things that God has promised, God has made provision in his word and she's saying, look, I believe the word of God.
And I believe God orchestrated these circumstances so that in this place, and in this time.
Here you are Boaz.
And perhaps there is some romance.
Perhaps there's some attraction, perhaps you know there's there is that component as well.
But the focus here is these laws that God has provided that has built into his word.
I'm asking that these scriptures would be fulfilled.
I'm asking that these things would be carried out that they would be applied directly to our lives so that we would be married that we would have a children that you buying back.
The field would then be able to pass that along to the son that we will have in the future.
She is asking for the fulfillment.
Of all of these things that God has built into his word to take place in.
Their own lives.
And as we seek to recover.
From life's greatest difficulties, again, this is an essential component as we make a full commitment to God trusting in him, walking with him to the very end no matter what.
I'm with you, Lord, being willing to put in some hard work to put in some effort trusting God for provision, trusting that God will make away.
As he sees fit.
We also ask him.
As we look at his promises as we look at his word and we say, Lord this scripture right here, I'm asking that you would apply this to my life.
One of the common ones that we often refer back to right is Romans 8.
God works all things together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.
And we bring that to the Lord.
And we say, Lord, I am asking that you would fulfill this.
Take this verse and apply it directly to my life and work out this situation for good.
That's essentially what Ruth is doing here asking for.
God's word to be fulfilled.
Build directly in her life.
It's something that we can do and also should do as well.
Well, finally as we head into Ruth chapter four, we get point #4 and that is wait for your Redeemer to do his work.
Boaz, you're the redeeming relative.
You're the kinsman Redeemer.
For me, Ruth says.
Will you take me under your wing?
Will you fulfill this role of redemption?
Well, now as we head into Chapter 4.
Ruth has been doing a lot right.
She's been making the commitment.
She's been doing the hard work.
She's now being the one to propose and ask for these things to be fulfilled.
But now in Ruth Chapter 4, now it's Ruth's time to simply wait before we get into Chapter 4. Let's read verse.
Second, let's start in verse 14 of Chapter 3 and kind of work our way down into Chapter 4.
It says so.
She lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another.
Then he said, do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
Also, he said, bring the shawl that is on you.
And hold it.
And she, when she held it, he measured 6 ephas of barley, laid it on her, and she went into the city.
When she came to her mother in law, she said, is that you, my daughter.
Then she told her all that the man had done for her.
And she said these six events of barley he gave me, for he said to me, do not go empty handed to your mother-in-law.
Then she said.
Sit still my daughter until you know how the matter will turn out for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.
Ruth again, she's been doing a lot.
Doing the committing doing the hard work doing the asking.
As she comes back to her mother in law now Naomi says OK, now Ruth just sit sit still.
'cause he's not going to rest.
Until he's worked this matter out.
And what does that involve?
Well, that brings us now.
Chapter 4 verse one.
Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke, came by.
So boy said, come aside, friend, sit here.
So he came inside, and sat down.
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, sit down here.
So they sat down.
Then he said to the close relative Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
And I thought to inform you saying buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people, if you will redeem it, redeem it.
But if you will not redeem it, then tell me that I may know, for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.
And he said, I will redeem it.
So here we begin to see that negotiation that unfolds, and I didn't talk about it directly here, but.
Boaz leaves it out in chapter three.
He says you're asking me to be the kinsman Redeemer, but there's actually a closer kinsman than me, and this is the part where I'm like.
I don't know how romantic this is like.
Hey yeah, I'll marry you, but actually you know there's this other guy.
If he's willing, he'll marry you first and then if not.
Then I'll marry you like I don't know how romantic that is, but.
But in obedience to the law of God, he's saying, look, I want to be faithful to the Lord.
I'm going to be, you know, following the Scriptures and following the the.
Protocols that got.
US set in order and so he now goes to the city gate where this kind of business was conducted.
He gets this other guy who is closer.
He gets the elders of the city is OK, everybody sit down.
We're going to have a little bit of.
A A business session here.
And let me tell you that this field is for sale the field of elimelekh.
It's in need of being redeemed.
And so I wanted you to know about it.
Closer relative because, well, I want to buy it, but you're in front of me so if you're not going to buy it let me know so that I can purchase the field and the guy says, oh, that sounds like a good deal.
Yeah, I'll buy the field.
I'll redeem it.
Verse 5 then Boaz said on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess.
The wife of the dead to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.
And the close relative said I cannot redeem it for myself.
Let's start ruin my own inheritance.
You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.
So again, going back to Deuteronomy chapter 25, the carrying on of the lineages of the original husband is what's also involved in.
This land deal from Leviticus 25, right that the redemption of the property came along with this agreement to fulfill Deuteronomy, chapter 25 to raise up an error for the original husband and the original husband name that the lineated of the that husband would be carried on that the family.
Inheritance would not be lost.
And so when Boaz brings this into the picture, the.
Guy says, oh.
Just a moment ago, he's like oh redeem it.
Yes, great deal.
But then he's like, oh wait, that's going to mess with my wife and my kids.
And now the inheritance is going to be split between them, and, ah, that's going to be challenging.
That's a tough situation, Boaz.
You don't seem to have, you know as much complexity in your home.
Why don't you go ahead and redeem it for yourself and?
And you can marry Ruth and you know.
Follow through with the scriptures.
In that way.
Verse 7 now that this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging anything to confirm anything one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other.
And this was a confirmation in Israel.
Therefore the close relatives said to Boaz, buy it for yourself.
And so he took off his sandal.
Now it's interesting this exchanging of the sandal.
There's a connection to Deuteronomy 25, where if someone is not willing to fulfill the responsibility of bringing up an error for the brother who died, that there was to be this sandal exchange and then the wife was to spit in the face of the guy who is not willing. And so it's, you know, kind of an interesting thing.
That is described.
In Deuteronomy 25, but something kind of struck me here in.
This that there's no dishonor in this.
There's not like this, you know, refusing to fulfill their role, that the way it's described here in former times back in seven concerning redeeming exchanging of anything like this was the practice, so so it doesn't seem that this is like that directly.
You know, that it was.
This guy deserved to be spit in the face, right?
Like that's not the situation here, but at.
The same time they.
Used the exchange of the sandal as a confirmation of the agreement as a token.
End of this is proof, so that later on, if the agreement is contested right, Boaz can say I've got the guy who's.
Sandal and I thought.
That's kind of clever.
Actually, you know, because thinking about like the way that their sandals would be not like our shoes, right?
That there would be the footprint of the guy.
So so if it was ever contested, it's like look.
I have his.
Footprint it's like having his fingerprint.
I have his footprint in his sandal and and it's proof it's.
Lynn's that him and I made this agreement because I have his sandal look, we can hold up his feet.
We can match it and you know we can see that this was indeed true, and so the witnesses testified to those things.
The footprint was established.
Essentially the guy you don't put the ink on his thumb and gave his thumbprint to Boaz to.
To seal the deal, and so Boaz now has arranged for redemption.
Of the field.
Redemption of Ruth and now she is to be his bride, and so the elders pronounce a blessing upon them.
We see that they do get married in verse 13.
Boaz took Ruth and she becomes his wife and when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi, bless it, be the Lord who has not.
Left you this date without a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel and may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age.
For your daughter in law.
Who loves you?
Who is better to?
You than seven sons has born.
There is a restoration that happens for Ruth for Naomi, coming forth from this kinsman Redeemer.
The Redeemer went and did his work.
Ruth didn't have to do anything.
Her work had been done.
She committed herself to the Lord.
She did the hard work during the season of the harvest, she asked for the Word of God to be fulfilled, and then she simply had to wait.
Now the responsibility fell completely upon the Redeemer to go and do the work.
And bring about the fulfillment.
The restoration that God wanted to accomplish.
Of course, here in the book of Ruth we see some incredible pictures of Jesus through all of this.
How we as the bride?
Made he as the Redeemer, right?
He's done that work of redemption.
That that we just wait, you know, for that.
And we right now today.
Wait for that redemption, right?
We wait for that finished work that he will do.
We've made the commitment to God.
We're doing the hard work of discipleship and walking with God, right?
We're asking God to fulfill his word in our lives.
At the same time, we're waiting.
We're resting, trusting, not in our works to earn us salvation.
We're we're just waiting for the redemption for the the Lord to return for us to be with him in glory.
And so some great pictures there of the Lord.
And for reasons for us to worship.
But also I I see some.
Very practical things for us as we face life's greatest difficulties.
Here's a a bit of a path for us to walk a bit of a a chart for us to navigate by.
That we need to, as things are shaken, as our hope is shaken as our foundations are shaken and the storms rage, we can come back to.
Our commitment to God being full and complete.
Wherever he is, we want to be, even if that's in the midst of a storm.
Wherever he lodges, wherever you know he he needs us to be wherever he wants us to be.
That's where we will be until death.
Do us part until death.
I will be faithful to the Lord.
And as I walk in that commitment, I'm willing to put in some hard work.
I'm not expecting that you know, everything is just going to come easy.
It's always going to be just no problems, no difficulties, no challenges.
I recognize that God is going to call me to do some challenging things and to do some difficult things and and I need to be willing to do the hard work.
To put in the effort to put.
In great effort to sweat and to struggle.
To experience the provision that God has provided, it's built into his provision this effort.
This work that he calls us to do.
As I ask God to fulfill his word.
I'm looking to the Lord to be faithful to his promises, looking to him to fulfill what he has declared.
What he has said, the things that he has established.
Trusting him.
We may have, you know, wanted those promises to be fulfilled earlier.
But it's after the harvest is done that this request is made right?
It's it's at the end at the end of that season, at the appropriate time, the Lord is going to fulfill those things, and so we asked God to fulfill his word.
Trusting him for the right timing, patient for the right time for those things to be fulfilled, and in the meantime we wait.
We rest we trust the Redeemer is doing his work.
He's going to accomplish.
It, and so we can rest and trust in him.
Lots of things for us to meditate on and consider and so.
I I saved.
The bulk of worship for the end of service so that we could just continue to meditate on these things.
And I just want to encourage you to be seeking the Lord, and there's some some interesting things.
Perhaps that the Lord wants to do in your heart and speak to you about and so wherever you're at and whatever challenges you might be facing.
Whichever of these steps, maybe you know you are in or struggling with.
Invite the Lord to Minister to you to kind of reaffirm and redirect so that you would continue down the course following the example of Ruth and experiencing the redemption that God has for you, and so let's take some time to finish out the service with some worship together.