The Book of Ruth

[0:00] All right, Ruth chapter 3. And we just kind of just barely got into the chapter last Sunday, so we'll pick it up at the beginning and then continue on.

[0:24] And just to refresh your memory, if this is not a familiar story to you, as I trust it is to many, but perhaps not all, Ruth finds herself in Bethlehem in the land of Judah, in the land of Israel.

[0:43] She's a Moabitess. She doesn't belong there. She's never been there in her life. She grew up worshiping pagan false gods. She grew up in a different land of Moab.

[0:54] And because a few Jews, a few Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah, Elimelech and Naomi, traveled to Moab when there was a time of famine, and they brought their two sons with them, because of that time, Ruth ended up marrying into that family and then ended up traveling with Naomi back to Bethlehem after the famine was passed.

[1:17] And now she finds herself in chapter 2 going out and trying to support Naomi and herself as well, of course. And she's out there gleaning in the fields, and she happens upon a field belonging to Boaz.

[1:33] And when Boaz takes knowledge of her and understands who she is and what she's done for Naomi and that this is family, then he makes certain, and we covered this last Sunday then, that he makes certain that she has plenty.

[1:46] And he makes certain that his reapers leave handfuls of purpose for her. And so what she takes home that first time, as we understand in this chapter 2, what she takes home is quite a find for one day's work.

[1:59] And granted, it was a full day's work, it seems. She was there till evening and after that until she got home. Now, Naomi realizes that Ruth is connected here to Boaz, and Boaz is what she calls in verse 20, the man is near kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

[2:19] And I think Naomi doesn't, maybe she's not remembering everybody, or she doesn't know that there's one nearer. Because what she tries to set up here in chapter 3, I believe she's doing it innocently, but technically it's not right.

[2:36] Because she's trying to send Ruth to offer herself to be wife to a man that it's not lawful for her to have. There's somebody else in line.

[2:48] And so I think this isn't, I'm not going to really make some conspiracy here, it's just ignorance perhaps, I'm sure of it, because Naomi, as I can tell, is a God-fearing woman. And she's trying to do this by the letter of the law, the way God Almighty set it up and established for it to happen, she's trying to guide Ruth in that way.

[3:08] And so there's a man, Boaz, though, as we'll see today, who has such integrity, and he's going to follow the word of God. He is a wonderful type of Jesus Christ, that he's not going to do anything, ever, that would cross any lines.

[3:21] And he's going to make sure it's done right. So let's pick it up in chapter 3 again, in verse number 1. 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?

[3:33] And now is not Boaz of our kindred, and with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he went with barley tonight in the threshing floor. And so last week we saw that her seeking rest for Ruth is rest from her mourning, from her widowhood, and that she is now seeking to find a husband for her.

[3:52] And it seems like Boaz is the right guy, and that the Lord had brought this together. And of course he did. But Naomi doesn't quite see that there's something else that has to take place here first.

[4:04] And so she's going to try to do this, but it's not going to be quite ready to go yet. Even in this chapter, even in this night, she's going to try to make it happen, to where he takes her and receives her as his wife.

[4:16] But some other business has to take place first, and this picture is just going to unfold more and more and more of this type, and what the man has to accomplish before he can take her.

[4:28] All right, so verse number two, I showed you that Jesus Christ offers rest to anybody that will come unto him in Matthew chapter 11, and that's another stronger point, Boaz being a type of Jesus Christ here.

[4:42] So Naomi's unaware of any other kinsmen. And as far as I can tell, and so she sends her in there to the next of kin in her mind to raise up seed to the dead and to keep their name on their inheritance as prescribed in Deuteronomy.

[5:01] So now in verse number three, she tells Ruth, she says, wash thyself therefore and anoint thee and put thy raiment upon thee and get thee down to the floor.

[5:13] The floor being the threshing floor mentioned in verse two, that he's winnowing barley. So it's into the night, and he's winnowing his barley, and the Bible doesn't say it, but custom says that with the hot days that are coming on in that region, that the cool breeze blows at night, and they thresh after they get back, beat it out, and then toss it up and winnow it so that the breeze takes away the chaff, and the idea is they're left with the corn or the grain on the ground itself to just pile up.

[5:48] And so that's a thought, why it's happening at night, or it just may be because he's got more work to do in the morning, and his work is never done. Go figure.

[5:59] So she tells her to wash herself and anoint herself and get her raiment upon her in verse number three. I think, I can't prove this, but I believe, just my take on it, that she's wearing something that would show herself to be a widow and a woman in mourning, and therefore now she's changing and putting on raiment, not just dressing up for the man, because she goes to him at night.

[6:24] It's dark out. He doesn't know who she is. But she's dressing in a way, perhaps, that is officially declaring herself to be available to be a wife, no longer a widow, no longer in mourning.

[6:37] And that's a little bit of speculation there, but nevertheless, it seems to fit with some traditions or customs. And so she says to anoint her and to put her raiment upon thee, get thee down to the floor.

[6:49] But in verse three in the middle, it says, but make not thyself known unto the man until he have done eating and drinking. And it shall be when he lieth down, thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

[7:07] And she said unto her, all that thou sayest unto me, I will do. So he is not leaving for the night. He's spending the night here. And it sounds like that's quite a customary thing for the man in charge to stay with what he has.

[7:25] It's his. He's going to protect it. And I read a commentator that described being in the region only, I don't know, maybe like 60 or 70 years ago, and even going out into some small farming communities and villages and seeing men do that very thing, where they're laying by there, they spend the night there to keep it from anybody coming in and stealing what they had worked so hard for.

[7:48] And the workers go home to their houses, but he stays there. And it doesn't appear that this is out by what we'd call the farm, out by the field, where the threshing floor is, because Ruth is going back and forth to the city, to the house.

[8:03] But Boaz is staying out there, perhaps all by himself, keeping watch and guarding his, what's called later, his heap of corn in verse seven.

[8:15] So he's not going anywhere, and it seems like that's a common thing for crop owners to do at this season while they're working. Ruth has to wait till everything quiets down, till everybody leaves, till they finish their food.

[8:28] It wouldn't be right for her to show up and interrupt the business. It wouldn't be right even for her to show up unannounced or in a public sense, or it might even, it wouldn't be right for her to put Boaz in a bad light where people see this woman coming and going, which you could imagine human nature would say, oh, no wonder he's given her a little extra handfuls on purpose.

[8:57] She's coming by at nighttime while everybody takes off. And you can imagine that this is, to be discreet, is the right thing to do. And so that's how she's doing.

[9:07] Now it says this thing about uncovering his feet. Isn't that an odd thing? I think it's an odd thing. I don't understand that fully. I truly don't. And I don't know if anybody, I've read several takes on it, several things.

[9:21] All I can do is go with some Bible, try to put a few thoughts together. And so I'll just offer you what I saw in the scriptures. Turn back to the left first. Go to Judges chapter three.

[9:33] So what she says is to mark the place where he shall lie and go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down. So Judges chapter three, and this is the first time this phrase and thoughts like it shows up.

[9:51] And this is where a king, the king of Moab, his name is Eglon. He's a big guy. In verse 17, he was a very fat man.

[10:07] And Ehud comes in and he's going to, he's really gonna, he's gonna kill him. And to do that, he has to deceive him and tell him that he has a present for him.

[10:20] And so he goes into the chamber and the summer parlor there and he has a private message with him and he ends up killing him and sneaking out. And the servants that were made to leave to give them privacy are waiting and waiting and waiting and they're not sure if they should come in or not.

[10:36] And so verse 23 says, then Ehud went forth through the porch and shut the doors of the parlor upon him and locked them. When he was gone out, his servants came, but when they saw, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, surely he covereth his feet in his summer parlor.

[10:52] And they tarried till they were ashamed. So what are they expecting? They're expecting that this man is passed out, that he's taken a nap, that leave me alone, don't come in.

[11:03] Now come over to 1 Samuel, chapter 24. 1 Samuel 24, and you'll see here the next time, passing by Ruth, of course, another time then that this shows up.

[11:27] 1 Samuel 24, this is when David is on the run. He's running through the hills and the strongholds and he's trying to escape Saul who's pursuing him. And Saul is not letting up.

[11:38] And I'll start in verse number one. It came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines that it was told him, saying, behold, David's in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

[11:53] And if you know anything about goats, they go up into those steep places where nobody can get to. David is really, really trying to stay away. And so Saul comes after him with 3,000 men.

[12:04] Verse three says, and he came to the sheep coats by the way where was a cave. And Saul went in to cover his feet. And David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

[12:15] And David said unto him, behold, the day which the Lord said unto thee, behold, I would deliver thine enemy into thine hand that thou mayest do to him as seem good unto thee. And David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.

[12:28] And it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. So it appears that Saul is resting inside this cave. And it says David goes up and sneaks up and he cuts off.

[12:41] And I don't know if cutting off that skirt of his robe uncovered his feet, as it were. That, that, don't know for that, but covering his feet seems to imply he's laying down or taking a nap or going to sleep.

[12:59] Uncovering his feet, then, seems like it's just a turn of phrase to match saying they're waking him up. Now, look at Proverbs 22.

[13:16] Trying to let the Bible here shed light on something that is otherwise uncommon, a way of speaking, or a custom that our best source of information is the scriptures itself.

[13:34] So, Proverbs 22, and we're going to compare two verses here. This is about being a surety, which, just understand, it's like, it's like being insurance.

[13:47] It's like being a cosigner for somebody else. And the teaching is often and always don't do it. You're getting yourself into trouble by cosigning for somebody else that may not end up following through.

[13:58] So, 22, 26. The Bible says, Be not thou one of them that strike hands. That's an agreement like that.

[14:08] Or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? So, they're taking away what they call there the bed.

[14:21] Now, let's compare that with chapter 27 of Proverbs. And verse 13.

[14:36] Take his garment that is surety for a stranger and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. Take it. If they don't follow through and if you're on the end of making that deal and they have somebody who's surety for them and they don't follow through and they owe you, then take it.

[14:54] Make it right. But the poor man in these cases has this garment as a bed. It seems that's the statement there.

[15:05] And you could kind of read that into Boaz as not back at home in his bed. He's laying out there on the threshing floor. So he's laying on his garment it would appear.

[15:18] Same with Saul. He's not in his palace. He's out there in the cave laying down. So what's he doing? He's using his garments. Laying upon his garments is what it would appear to me. And so covering their feet in that sense, it seems like they're covering it with their very own garments or laying on them or using another to cover over them.

[15:39] I don't understand it fully, but the feet would be, it's not easy to go to sleep with your feet uncovered, is it? It's just true, it's not. They get cold quick, and you notice it, you feel it, you just want to stick them under some blanket or something.

[15:53] And if you're laying there in perhaps your clothing, in sandals like they would have and such a thing, that would be one thing you'd want to cover up is your feet.

[16:05] And so it sounds like that's what the statement is saying there. Now come back to Ruth chapter three. And we'll notice here that she says in verse number four, thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

[16:29] Now it seems to me like she's telling her to go wake him up. But maybe she's not saying that specifically, just uncover his feet and lay thee down and he'll wake up, it'll happen, you're going to be soft and gentle here and not abrupt.

[16:50] Verse six says, she went down under the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn.

[17:03] And so she marked where he was when it was light out and saw that or when the torch was on or whatever the case. And she came softly and uncovered his feet and laid her down, just like she was told.

[17:16] And it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself and behold, a woman lay at his feet. Now, so it doesn't appear that she woke him up outright.

[17:27] It appears she just uncovered his feet, laid down, and finally at midnight he wakes up, he's startled, and he certainly should be because it's dark out. He's laying here by himself protecting what's his and there's a person, an intruder, that just showed up and is there.

[17:44] And that certainly would startle him and startle you just the same. And so he is awakened by an unannounced visitor. Notice in verse 8 that it's at midnight that the man was afraid.

[17:56] It's interesting in the Bible several times that surprise visitors show up at midnight. And remember what midnight is. Understand where we got that phrase from. Literally, middle of the night.

[18:09] And nobody in this room wakes up at midnight at 12 o'clock and says, oh, it's the middle of the night. To us, the middle of the night is somewhere around 2, 3 in the morning most likely.

[18:21] But the middle of the night is literally the middle of the night. And this ties all the way back into Jewish timing from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. is the night.

[18:32] From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. is the day. And so we say midnight all the time not even realizing we're referring to something that is of Jewish custom and biblical time.

[18:43] And our culture says it all the time. Midnight. Why do we call 12 o'clock midnight? It is not the middle of any night for us. But in the Jewish timing of things, and remember, the evening and the morning were the first day and God's setup is always night, first, day, second, evening, morning.

[19:02] Now, that's why it's called the middle of the night. That's why it's called midnight rather. She shows up at midnight. In Exodus, there's an angel that comes in to kill the firstborn of Pharaoh and all the Egyptians.

[19:22] And it's at midnight that that surprise visitor showed up to do the damage. In Matthew chapter 25, there's ten virgins with their lamps.

[19:33] There's five foolish and five wise, and it's the bridegroom that shows up at midnight. And some of them aren't prepared. And that surprise shows up at that time.

[19:43] It's an interesting thing. It shows up through the scripture where somebody's showing up here, a woman, unannounced or awakened at midnight. Now, in verse number nine, he said, who art thou?

[19:56] So he doesn't recognize her, likely because it's midnight. It's dark. And he doesn't know what's going on and who's there. He's just being awakened. And so he says, who art thou?

[20:06] And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. Now, again, this is kind of an awkward thing, isn't it?

[20:17] This is a little bit strange to us to hear this language or to try to really grasp what is it that they're doing or that's being stated here. Some people take this in an inappropriate manner and then to do that, therefore, they're presuming some, what I would say, indecent behavior upon Ruth or upon Boaz, and that would be wrong.

[20:44] And there's nothing indecent going on here at all. So let's look at some of the words here. It says first there that she said, spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid. That might sound odd to you, and it does to me, that a man would wear a skirt.

[20:57] But skirt is not the sense of what a woman wears today when she dresses up and puts on a nice skirt. That terminology is the border or the edge of something.

[21:08] For instance, David, we read already, cut off Saul's skirt. It was the skirt of Saul's robes. So he was cutting off what was the bottom. Another place, Saul laid hold on the skirt of Samuel's mantle.

[21:25] In 1 Samuel 15, when Samuel showed up and Saul had kept the sheep the best and such that he was supposed to destroy, and he told him, God's going to destroy your kingdom, and he walked away, and Saul grabbed a hold of him.

[21:39] And so he rented even. In Psalm 133, it references oil running down to the skirts of Aaron's priestly garments.

[21:50] It's running all the way down to the bottom of his garments, to the skirts of his garments. And, you know, we use that term to say the outskirts of a city or something. It's the outer edge, the outer perimeter.

[22:02] So that's all it's saying there. And so it's him spreading not, he's not wearing women's clothing when he goes to bed, but rather whatever robe or garments that he had, it's putting that, the outside of it, the bottom of it, the edge of it, upon her.

[22:20] And so that's the term skirt there. Now, the very thought of this spreading the skirt, that's a strange thing as well. But it has a connection to a marriage. It has a connection. It's a token or I might call a symbol, a symbolizing a man receiving a woman to be his wife.

[22:38] And she doesn't, they don't need some ceremony. They don't need to do some big thing, invite their friends, invite their, they could, there could be a full-on festive, but it doesn't have to be in such a case.

[22:50] And take a look, I'll show you one place that is referenced like this. Look at Ezekiel. Find the prophet Ezekiel chapter 16. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel chapter 16.

[23:07] Ezekiel 16. It's a symbolic act in these days and customs of receiving or pledging to receive a woman as a wife.

[23:30] Now in Ezekiel 16, this is some, some very metaphoric language of God looking upon the, the infant nation of Israel and how he looked upon them and took them from literally from nothing to making them the greatest thing on earth.

[23:52] And the illustration he uses is of a baby that is aborted and abandoned and never cleaned and never swaddled, but laying in his blood out there in the wilderness, nobody wanted you.

[24:07] And God says, I came and found you and I cleaned you up and you grew and we fell in love and I gave you all of these precious jewels and decked you and you're the most beautiful thing on earth.

[24:20] That's the way God describes this relationship, this like a, like a betrothing to a woman. And so I'll start here just briefly and catch verse number four, where he starts with this.

[24:32] He mentions the birth in verse three, but then in verse four, as for thy nativity in the day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou washed in water to supple thee, thou wast not salted at all nor swaddled at all.

[24:47] None I pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, but thou wast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou wast born.

[25:00] And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. And so God took her unto him and as she grew, he, look at verse eight, here's the spot we want to see.

[25:15] Verse eight, now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love and I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness.

[25:26] Yea, I swear unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine. And so now he describes the anointing and the clothing and decking with ornaments and bracelets and chains and jewels and earrings and in verse 13, gold and silver, raiment, fine linen.

[25:50] At the end of verse 13, thou wast exceeding beautiful and thou didst prosper into a kingdom and thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. And then he goes on to say, but you left me.

[26:04] You walked away from me. You thought you were all that and you walked away from me and committed adultery or whoredoms with other nations or other gods. And so that's the picture there that God's seeing toward this nation.

[26:18] And so you see there this thought about spreading my skirt over thee and entering into a covenant with thee. You became mine. And so that ties in here to Ruth chapter 3, what we're looking at when he describes, when she says, spread therefore, verse 9, thy skirt over thine handmaid.

[26:34] Why? For thou art a near kinsman. And it also shows us then that Ruth is asking him in verse 9 to fulfill the role of a kinsman here. And he recognizes this immediately.

[26:47] And so there's nothing indecent at all. There's nothing inappropriate going on at all. There's no favors and anything like that. This is simply what the scriptures have proclaimed ought to happen when a man of Israel dies, when his inheritance is left unclaimed.

[27:04] It's to stay in the family. It's not to just be taken on by necessarily someone else immediately, but rather, first, let's get a son raised up from the nearest kinsman.

[27:17] Let's get it, get him in there, and that's his. And that way the name of the dead doesn't get wiped off, the face of the earth. And so she shows up saying, you're a near kinsman.

[27:31] Naomi set this whole thing up. She told me what to do. This is not Ruth's culture. This is not her way. As a matter of fact, Boaz acknowledges that here in verse number 10.

[27:41] Look at verse 10. He said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men, whether rich or poor.

[27:55] Now that's interesting because her age would be seemingly much younger than Boaz, and the natural tendency would be to look for a younger husband, one of her own age, but Ruth isn't looking for a husband.

[28:07] As a matter of fact, Ruth is content to care for Naomi, and now she's following Naomi's instructions to the T. When he says in verse 10, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning.

[28:23] He's talking about to Naomi, not about himself, not about, but rather about Naomi, because it was him showing kindness to Naomi that got his attention.

[28:34] Look back at chapter 2, verse 11. Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and are coming to the people which thou knewest not heretofore.

[28:51] The Lord recompensed thy work. That's her kindness. That's her activity toward her mother-in-law and caring for her and working all day in the field and taking it back to her and staying with her.

[29:04] And so he's saying, Oh, my, this woman, blessed be thou the Lord, my daughter. Thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. Why? Because you could be doing some other things with your life, but you are still following and seeking to fulfill what your mother-in-law, what Naomi has lost in her husband Elimelech and her two sons, Melon Chilion.

[29:28] It's all gone, and you're the only one that can do anything about that. And that's what you're trying to do. You are, you're, you're surrendering your life to this woman, to taking care of her, to making sure that she, you're gonna, you're trying to have a son in her stead and to bring his name and raise up the dead upon their inheritance.

[29:52] And he just finds that to be a wonderful thing. As a matter of fact, he calls her a virtuous woman. A virtuous woman. Look at verse number 11.

[30:02] Now my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

[30:14] All the city knows this about you, Ruth. Everybody knows. Everybody knows. What a testimony. What a statement. A virtuous woman.

[30:28] She was known by everybody to be selfless, to care about others, to be a hard worker, to not seek her own glory or her own satisfaction, to show kindness, to show loyalty.

[30:44] Everybody knows you're a virtuous woman. Do you know that Ruth is the only woman in this book to be called a virtuous woman?

[30:57] There's not one other anywhere. There's one. One woman in the Bible. She's a Moabitess. She's called a virtuous woman. Take a look at Proverbs 31.

[31:09] This may be where your mind goes when you hear that, because this chapter, most of it is dedicated to this thought of a virtuous woman. And what I want you to see is when the topic is brought up, it's a question of, boy, they're hard to find.

[31:32] Verse number 10, Proverbs 31, and verse number 10, who can find a virtuous woman?

[31:44] Question mark. And the answer is not given. What follows is a description of what a virtuous woman is and does and gives us her character and her reputation.

[31:58] And it starts by talking about her rarity. Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. Who can find one?

[32:10] Take a look at Ecclesiastes. Just go to your right a few pages. The next book, Ecclesiastes 7. Because if I asked you what man on the face of this planet that's ever lived has gone through more women looking for a virtuous woman, his name is Solomon.

[32:30] And look what he testifies after having 300 wives and 700 concubines, a total of 1,000. Look what he testifies.

[32:42] Verse number 26. And I find more bitter than death the woman. This is ugly. I find more bitter than death.

[32:54] That's a pretty strong term, huh? I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands are as bands.

[33:04] That is just like a tying up and holding back. Whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.

[33:17] Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one to find out the account which yet my soul seeketh. Still looking, he says, but I find not.

[33:30] One man among 1,000 have I found. So those aren't very good odds. One among 1,000. But a woman among all those have I not found. How about that?

[33:42] He could find a man, a righteous man, a virtuous man, one out of 1,000. But his testimony is, among women, he couldn't find one.

[33:59] Now maybe he was looking in the wrong place. But in Proverbs 31, the question is, who can find one? Because Solomon certainly was looking. Look at 1 Peter. One more passage on this.

[34:11] 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3.

[34:31] And let's start at the beginning here. And just Peter points out some things that ought to be known. In verse number 1, And likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.

[34:51] Conversation, remember, in your Bible is not about a speech, but it's something you can see. It's your manner of life. Verse 2 says, While they behold your chaste conversation.

[35:03] It's something that's displayed. It's outward. While they behold your chaste conversation, coupled with fear, whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

[35:33] For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands. What did they adorn themselves with? A meek and quiet spirit.

[35:46] It wasn't getting all decked out on the outward appearance and outwardly and costly things to make themselves be noticed, but rather it was something on the inside that spoke louder and clearer and purer.

[36:00] It was a meek and quiet spirit. It was a chaste conversation or a chaste manner of life, a pure, clean, decent, a becoming manner of life coupled with fear.

[36:14] I like the wording in verse 4. It's the hidden man of the heart and that would be Jesus Christ on the inside. He's hidden, but he's showing up in your conversation, in your lifestyle.

[36:28] and that's something that we can consider with Ruth is she wasn't, she didn't show up from Moab with all the plated hair and all the gold and outward things of her customs or she wasn't looking for a man like that.

[36:44] She got his attention by being virtuous, by being humble, by being hardworking, by caring about somebody that he cared about and that got his attention. This is a virtuous woman.

[36:56] It was those qualities from the inside that were speaking loudly and it got the attention of that man and he noticed you're not following the rich young men. You're not chasing them for good times and trying to get their attention with your beauty and your youth.

[37:10] No, you're virtuous. That's something inside of you, virtue. And so that's something to consider ladies and young ladies to pursue as a lifestyle, to seek from the word of God those righteous aspects and factors and to decide that's what I want my life to speak.

[37:32] And I want to get somebody's attention if ever God allows by doing it the right way and being a clean and pure woman before God rather than something that can attract somebody on the outward.

[37:45] And when you push to attract somebody from the outward, you get their attention in a physical, carnal manner, then you're going to have to keep their attention with a physical and carnal manner. And that's just going to lead down the road to you don't want a guy who's just looking for eye candy because as soon as you're not up to par, there's going to be somebody else that'll catch his eye.

[38:06] But if you can be a woman of a meek and quiet spirit, which I might add that Peter added in the sight of God is great price. Her price is far above rubies.

[38:18] That's invaluable to find that purity and those qualities on the inside. If you can exhibit that and attract a man with that, you found a man that's worth having.

[38:30] Amen. Okay, come back to Ruth chapter 3 and we'll wrap this up. Ruth chapter 3. And so that was verse 11.

[38:48] And now my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest. For all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman.

[39:01] How be it? There is a kinsman nearer than I. And in that moment, oh, Ruth never knew this. Nobody knew this. We didn't understand that. Naomi didn't know that.

[39:12] And so everything she's doing in this moment just kind of got shot. There's somebody else, so I should be laying at somebody else's feet right now. And it turns out he's going to say, verse 13, tarry this night and it shall be in the morning that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman part.

[39:33] But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee as the Lord liveth. That's a pledge. Remember, that's swearing by the Lord's name. Lie down until the morning.

[39:45] So he's not going to send her at midnight, send her back along the road heading back to Bethlehem. Just stay here. It's fine. And in the next verse, he wants her to get out of there before anybody can know and doesn't want anybody to know that she was there because that could look bad on him and her.

[40:02] But nevertheless, he's a reasonable man, not sending her away, realizing she's full of integrity and virtue and just says, just stay put. Everything's fine. And we'll sort this out as soon as we can.

[40:15] So we'll stop there and catch a little bit next week about some of the type coming back into play. We really didn't talk that much today. But that's not to be dismissed because it's all underneath the wording of all of this.

[40:27] So let's take a 10-minute break and then come back. Thank you.