inside a man of of standing from the clan of Elimelech whose name was Boaz and Ruth the
Moabite said to Naomi let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose
eyes I find favor. Naomi said to her go ahead my daughter so she went out entered a field and began
to glean behind the harvesters as it turned out she was working in a field belonging to Boaz who
was from the clan of Elimelech. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters
the Lord be with you the Lord bless you they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters
who does that young woman belong to? The overseer replied she is the Moabite who came back from
Moab with Naomi. She said please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.
She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now except for a short rest in the
shelter. So Boaz said to Ruth my daughter listen to me don't go and glean in another field and don't go
away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting
and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you and whenever you are thirsty
go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. At this she bowed down with her face to the
ground. She asked him why have you why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner?
Boaz replied I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your
husband. How you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with the people you did
not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord
the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to take refuge. May I continue to find favor in your
eyes my Lord she said you have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant though I do not have
the standing of one of your servants. At mealtime Boaz said to her come over here have some bread and
dip it in the wine vinegar. When she sat down with the harvesters he offered her some roasted grain.
She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean Boaz gave orders to his men
let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her
from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up and don't rebuke her. Gary thank you.
Let's pray before we open God's word together. Father God we thank you for your word to us this
morning. We thank you for this book of Ruth that you have left for us to to open up and that inside
its pages Lord that we would learn from you and we would learn about you. Help us as we we look this
morning to be changed by your word in Jesus name. Amen.
So if you've been here the last few weeks we've been we've been on a journey. We've been on a journey
with Ruth. We've been on a journey with Naomi. Last week we left them at the side of the road. They'd just
come from Bethlehem and or they'd just come to Bethlehem from Moab and we remember that Moab is
is a place that isn't isn't liked by God. It is seen as one of God's enemies and so the idea of going
to Moab is bad. The idea of coming back from Moab is extremely shameful. Coming back from Moab as a
widow and coming back from Moab without your children and then bringing you know Johnny Foreigner
along with you. This isn't going to to look good in Bethlehem. It is it's scandalous and so what are
we going to find? We find Ruth actually. We looked at in home groups if you have the time I do encourage
you to come along to home groups. They're a great place. They're they're a lot more relaxed. There's
less people. There's more tea and coffee and we can get together and we can you know we can chat about
life. Chat about things and also chat about God's word and that's an aside. It was free. Nobody asked
me to say that but yeah home groups are good and and so Ruth is the one who's encouraging Naomi. She's
saying Naomi I'm coming with you. I want your God to be my God. She's saying that's it. I'm all in. I'm
with you and they arrive at harvest time. She's the one that seems to be encouraging Naomi at this point.
If she grew up when I did in in the 80s she probably would have flicked on to her cd player because we
didn't have iPods in those days and she might have sang this song. She might have said you know when
your day is long and the night the night is yours alone and when you're sure you've had enough of
this life well you know just hang on. Don't just don't let yourself go because everybody cries
and everybody hurts sometime and the chorus of that song goes on and it's it's an encouragement
to hold on. To hold on. You see we live in a broken world that can change in a moment.
In the blink of an eye somebody goes shopping in Douglas and comes back and their car's on fire.
That was only a couple of weeks ago. Tragedy can strike at any moment at any place and none of us
have any control over what's going to happen. And whether it's a fire in a shopping mall or whether
it's the death of a loved one. We live in a broken and a fallen world and so Ruth is there and they're
alone. They're back in Bethlehem. And Ruth's saying hold on. There's hope.
But is Ruth correct? Is you know REM are they correct? What is their hope to hold on to you or hold on for?
Can we actually find hope in this broken world?
And if so where can we get it from? Who provides the hope for us?
And so we look again at the text in verse 3. Verse 1 to 3. Let's look at that together.
And so it tells us in verse 1 that Naomi has a relative. We have a new character comes into the story.
He's announced as this man Boaz. He's a man of standing. He's strong. If you're interested,
I was alerted to the fact that Downton the movie is out. So whoever the character is in Downton,
you know the strong, handsome, silent hero. This is Boaz here in this story. He's the Mr.
Darcy of the Pride and Prejudice. This is Boaz. He's the strong,
man of upright character with influence. And we're introduced to him. And not only that,
we're told a few more details that he's from Elimelech's clan. So he is related. And we know
his name. We know he's Boaz. And that's it. But it can do and raise a few questions for us.
Who is Boaz? What will happen? Ruth has pledged her life to God and to follow Naomi.
But what about God's people? Who will she meet? Who will she find? Are they going to like her?
Will they accept her? She's given her life to the God of Israel and to Naomi, but she has no hope
that as a foreigner that she's going to be accepted by this new people. What kind of people does she
expect to find? And will the God that she's put her trust in, will he live up to his reputation?
And will his people reflect his character? So we're going to find that out in this chapter. It's
exciting. I think it's exciting. And poor Ruth, she doesn't ever lose this tag of being the Moabite,
does she? Verse 2 says,
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, Let me go into the fields and pick leftover grain behind anyone in
whose eyes I find favor. And Naomi said to her, Go ahead, my daughter. And so she went out, she entered
a field, and she began to glean behind the harvesters. And as it turned out, she was working in a field
belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. And so the background to these three
verses, I believe, is that Ruth has a hope in God's word. If you want to take a note down, if you want to
go to Deuteronomy 24, and you can read through verses 17 to 22, we won't go through. But there is
the law about gleaning. And so what is the law about gleaning? Well, in short, it's this. If you have a
harvest field, don't pick every grain of corn. Leave some. And who are we going to leave it for? Well, we're
going to leave it for the widows. We're going to leave it for the foreigners. And we're going to leave it
for the poor and the orphan to come along and so that they can pick it after you. And one of the
memories of this is because you were foreigners, you were slaves in Egypt, and you were mistreated,
but you're not going to, this nation, this godly nation isn't going to be like Egypt. And so God's
making provision for the poor and for the widow in this law of gleaning. And that's what's behind
these three verses here. In fact, that's what's behind this chapter. This command of God and the law
in Deuteronomy chapter 24. And so I'm assuming that in some cases, Naomi has told Ruth this,
and she's worked it out, that actually the word of God says that I should be able to go to a field,
I should be able to turn up, and I should be allowed to gather corn so that we can survive.
And so off Naomi goes. So she has these three ideas. She says that she's going to be able to get
provision. She's going to be able to hopefully find favor and grace in the people of Israel. In fact,
she's looking for an individual that's going to be gracious and give her favor, and that she's going
to find acceptance. And she expects those things from the people of God. And so my question to us
this morning is, what do people expect of us? You know, when they hear about the Bible, they hear
about Christians, and they hear about Christians who are meant to love one another and love their
neighbors, when they meet us. Do we live up to the billing? Do we reflect the love and the character
of God that we know? It's a challenge to us. It's a big challenge. But this is what Ruth expects to find.
And so we have to say, does she get it? Does she find that? Because we have to remember that the context
of the whole book of Ruth is taking place in the time of Judges, when everybody was doing their own
thing. Is she going to find people that actually are living God's standard? They're living God's way at a time
when most people are doing their own thing. And just there in verse 2, she wants to go to the fields.
She wants to pick up leftover grain. And in verse 3, it tells us she goes out, and as it turned out,
she ends up in Boaz's field. Isn't that good? We've heard about this man, Boaz. He's of normal
character. So what's he going to do? How's he going to influence this story? Is he going to help
Naomi and Ruth? We don't know. But Jesus commands that we would love one another. He commands that
we would love our neighbor as herself. And this is what she expects in the law. This is what she expects
from this new community that she's given up everything to be a part of.
What's she going to discover?
So let's look at verse 4. This is where it gets exciting. And if you're into your romantic dramas,
it starts to hot up a bit.
Just then, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, and he greeted his harvesters, and he says,
The Lord be with you. And the Lord bless you, they answered.
Boaz is a good boss. He comes, and we know he's a godly man, and he greets them with a greeting.
He's saying, God be with you. It's a nice greeting. It's a nice way to introduce Boaz to us.
And then Boaz, he asked his harvesters.
He's seen something that's different in his field.
There's all of his normal workers, and there's the ladies and the men,
and he spots something different, and he calls over his charged hand,
and he says,
Who's that girl?
Who's she?
She catches his eye.
But what he actually says is,
Who does that woman belong to?
Who owns that woman?
Who is that woman's protector?
Who is she?
Whose daughter is she?
Who is her husband?
Who's her protector?
Where does she come from?
And we get the answer, and the overseer, he replies,
Well, she's the Moabite that came back from Moab.
As if Moabite didn't tell him exactly where she came from.
He has to emphasize the fact that she's not from around here.
And she said,
Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves,
behind the harvesters,
and she came into the field,
and has remained here from morning till now,
except for a short rest in the shelter.
And really what she's saying is,
Well, that's the foreigner that came back from Moab.
She's the odd one out among here,
but she's been here all morning,
and she's a really hard worker.
She hasn't really taken a lot of time to rest.
And so he is, in one sense,
he's impressed by her dedication,
but he's still not sure about whether or not
he should accept her or not.
He still sees her as an outsider.
And so this is then magical.
This is a big old moment.
What is Boaz going to do?
Is he going to tell her to,
you know,
What are you doing?
Get away?
You're a foreigner.
You're a Moabite.
I don't want you in my field.
Clear off.
Is that his response?
And in verse 8,
it says,
So Boaz said to Ruth,
My daughter, listen to me.
Don't go and glean in another field.
And don't go away from here.
Stay here with the women who work for me.
Watch the field where the men are harvesting
and follow along after the women.
And I have told the men,
Do not lay a hand on you.
And whenever you are thirsty,
go and get a drink from the water jars
that the men have filled.
See, she had heard God's word
and it told her about a God of refuge.
And so she's receiving all of these things
all at once throughout this chapter
as we read through it,
as you look through it,
as you go home.
She's given protection.
She's given kindness.
And she's given grace.
Boaz doesn't throw her out.
Boaz embraces her.
In fact, Boaz says to all the young men,
because she's vulnerable
and she's not belonging to anybody,
he says,
Hands off.
She's under my protection.
Anybody touches Ruth
answers to me.
He's laying down the law.
He's saying no.
And then he's saying to Ruth,
he's saying,
You know,
if you're thirsty,
you can go and get water.
He's not treating her like
someone who's poor.
He's bringing her in
and treating her,
I suppose,
you could say,
like a hired worker.
Only there's no benefit to Boaz
because anything she gets,
she takes away.
And so he's treating her
with real kindness,
real grace,
and real protection.
And these are the things
that Ruth thought she would find
in the people of God.
And so this is Ruth's response.
She can't believe it.
She thought,
you know,
if we get a few stalks of corn
and make a wee bit of flour
and get home
and me and Naomi can eat,
well,
surely that would be great kindness.
But Boaz goes way beyond
her expectations
and at this,
it says in verse 10
that she bowed her face
to the ground
and she asked him,
Why have I found
such favor in your eyes
that you notice me,
a foreigner?
It's even how
Ruth sees herself.
Ruth sees herself
as the outcast,
as someone who's
outside the community.
She's doing this
because she has a belief,
but she still feels
like an outsider.
And this is wonderful.
These words,
verse 11,
Boaz replied,
I've been told
all about
what you have done
for your mother-in-law.
Obviously,
gossip worked quite well
3,000 years ago,
just as it does today.
Since the death
of your husband,
how you left your father
and mother
and your homeland
and you came to live
with a people
that you did not know before.
Boaz has been told,
we don't know how he knows,
we're assuming it's
Naomi has leaked out
the information,
but he knows about her
commitment,
not only to Naomi,
not only to coming
to the land of Israel
and to Bethlehem,
but her commitment
to the God of Israel.
And he understands
exactly what it is
that she's given up.
And we know that
by the introduction
of those words
that you have left
your father and mother.
You had protection,
you had security,
you had somewhere
to belong
and you have come
to somewhere
that you don't belong.
And not only that,
he actually gets
why she's done it.
He knows why
and we learn that
in verse 12.
And this is the
outstanding verse
if you can have
a better verse
in a chapter,
this is it.
And these words
are wonderful.
He says,
may the Lord repay you
for what you have done.
May you be richly
rewarded by the Lord,
the God of Israel
under whose wings
you have come
to take refuge.
Say, how smart is Boaz?
Boaz realizes
that yes,
you're here
with Naomi.
Yes, you've left
your father and your mother.
But as we learned
and we looked
a little bit deeper
on Home Group
on Wednesday night,
Ruth's commitment
was to Yahweh.
She was rejecting
the gods
of the Moabites
and she wanted
to know
the God
of the Israelites.
She wanted to know
who this God was
and she wanted
to align herself
with him
and she wanted
to take refuge
in the wings
of God.
and this is
a wonderful picture.
It's a picture
of a bird
protecting its chicks
by surrounding
the chicks
with its wings
protecting it
from harm
from the elements
nestled cozy
in all those feathers.
It's a nice and cute
little bird.
Fragile
little bird.
And Boaz
is saying
God's going
to bless you
for what you've done.
You've come here
to take refuge
and I believe
that God's going
to give you
refuge.
And so we find
that all of the
despair of the
previous chapter
is renewed
and that there is
hope.
Hope
in this refuge.
And so the
narrative continues
and Ruth
continues
and she comes
back and she
says may I
continue to find
favor in your
eyes my lord.
She said you
have put me at
ease by speaking
kindly to your
servant though I
do not have the
standing of one
of your servants.
He's being so
kind.
He's going
the extra mile.
He is going
beyond what's
expected and Ruth
is blown away.
And it doesn't
stop there.
You go on
verse 14.
It's dinner time.
What's going to
happen?
She's been working
out all day.
And so I think
this is even more
remarkable because
I don't know this
it's not in the
text but I reckon
all the workers
on their own
you know as they
do in the boss
he has his
special little bit
of food.
And he comes
to eat beside
the boss
is it you
know the
supervisor
the manager
no he calls
over
Ruth the
Moabite
the foreigner
and he calls
her over to
his table
in verse 14
at mealtime
Boaz said to
her come over
here have
some bed
and dip it
in the wine
vinegar.
I remember
many years
ago when I
was a little
bit younger
and I
hadn't a clue
you were going
out to dinner
parties and
things like
that and
you experience
new foods.
I can remember
the first time
someone says
well do you
know you want
some balsamic
vinegar and
bread.
Like what?
Bread?
Balsamic
vinegar?
Uncouth you
know.
No idea.
The idea
that you can
dip bread
and put
balsamic
vinegar in it
with a wee
bit of oil
and it's
tasty.
So that's
what they're
doing here.
They're coming
over in the
text and
they're having
a little bit
of wine
vinegar and
bread.
And when
she sat
down with
the harvesters
he offered
her some
roasted grain
and she
had all that
she wanted
and she had
some left
over.
We follow
on there
in verse
15 and
as she
got up
to glean
Boaz
gave orders
to his
men.
Do you
know what?
He almost
takes the
shackles off
and he more
or less
says look
just let
her take
the combine
harvester
there and
just give
her the
whole field.
He gives
her open
season.
He basically
says as
much as
that girl
can carry
let her
have it.
In fact
you see
when you're
cutting
down the
big heads
of grain
just drop
a couple
and say
look here
there you
go.
And when
she's doing
it make
sure you
treat her
kindly.
Don't ever
dare rebuke
her.
Let her
do and let
her have as
much as she
wants.
He's gone
from let her
work and let
her follow
and he's
realizing he
wants to be
God to
this girl in
the sense that
he wants to
fulfill what he
believes about
her.
He wants to
bless her
because he
really truly
believes that
God this is
the thing that
he should do
because he
wants to
bless her
because she's
come back
to find a
God of
refuge and
he's trying to
be that
refuge for
her.
And so
it goes on
and she
works all
day and
she works
hard and
she works
all day and
she gathers
up a lot
of stuff.
And also
she has
enough lunch
that she
takes some
home to
Naomi.
Naomi
it says
there in
verse 17
so Ruth
gleaned in
the field
until evening
and then
she had
threshed
the barley
she had
gathered it
and it
amounted to
about an
ephah.
And you're
all saying
what's an
ephah?
And I'm
saying I
don't know.
But I'm
told it's
about 22
liters.
And so
I reckon
that not
only that
that's quite
heavy so
it tells me
that this
girl Ruth
must have
been a
fit girl.
She was
a bit
strong to
carry 22
liters around.
22 liters
of milk
I don't
think I
could carry
that very
far.
But she's
going back
home.
She's
going to
Naomi.
Naomi's
been away
worrying all
day.
Where's
Naomi got
to?
Where's
Ruth got
to?
You know
you think
of the
dangers.
Boaz has
had to tell
his workers
you know
you've
got to
leave that
girl alone.
So the
vulnerability
of Ruth
is very
real and
so Naomi
is she
worrying?
Is she
fretting?
What's
going to
happen?
What is
she going
to see?
You could
almost imagine
her sitting
waiting out
looking over
the horizon
waiting for
Ruth to
return.
And we
see that
in verse
18 she
carried it
back to
town and
her mother-in-law
saw how much
she had
gathered.
Ruth also
brought out
and gave
her what
she had
left over
and after
she had
eaten
enough.
And then
here's the
big question
over dinner.
And her
mother-in-law
asked her
where did
you clean
today?
Where'd
you get
everything?
And it
was a
follow-up
question.
Where did
you work?
Blessed is
the man who
took notice
of you.
And so
then Ruth
told her
mother-in-law
all about
the one
whose place
she had
been
working.
And the
name of
the man
who worked
there today
was Boaz.
You can
almost,
you know,
the anticipation
of Naomi.
22 liters
of flour
and wheat
and this
roasted grain
and,
you know,
who took
notice of
you?
Who caught
your eye
today?
Who was
good to
you?
Where did
you get
such kindness
and such
grace?
Naomi
didn't
expect it.
Ruth
didn't
expect it.
Do we
expect it?
What do
you expect
when you
pray and
you come
to church
and do
you have
high
expectations
of a
loving God
who wants
to bless
us?
It's not
a prosperity
idea of
blessing,
but the
heart that
God wants
us to
come to
him because
he cares
for us.
And so
Naomi's
thrilled,
obviously,
and she
says,
the Lord
bless him.
Bless the
man who
took notice
of you.
Oops.
And so
we have
this little
dialogue
between
Naomi
and Ruth.
And then
some little
detail comes
out.
When she
finds out
that it's
Boaz,
she uses
this term.
She says,
oh,
that's
great.
He is
one of
our,
the old
word is
kinsman
redeemer.
Or the
NIV here
says guardian
redeemer.
And everybody's
going,
what's that?
Is that a
Marvel movie?
A guardian
redeemer.
And so
again for
that,
I haven't
got the
reference,
and we'll
go into
that a
little bit
more probably
next week.
But a
guardian
redeemer was
this.
If you were
in trouble
and you
were a
family member,
the law
said that
your closest
living relative
had the
right to
come and
buy you
out of
slavery or
pay your
debt and
bring you
back into
your inheritance
so that you
wouldn't lose
the inheritance
that God
had given
the children
of Israel.
And so
Naomi's
saying,
this is
great,
you've
gone to
Boaz,
and you
know what?
He could
possibly
redeem us,
he could
get us
out of
the situation
that we're
in.
He could
help us.
He could
care for
us,
he could
bring us
in.
And so
now the
scheming
wheels of
Naomi start
to work.
We see
that next
week,
how she
tries to
work it
out,
and she's
thinking,
there could
be a future
here.
Everything
that I
thought was
bleak,
she's now
suddenly
full.
Her stomach
is full,
her cupboard
is full,
and now
she's
thinking that
the future
is full.
The
emptiness
of chapter
one is
wiped away
in one
day.
And so
for the
next few
days she
works out
a strategy
of survival.
She says,
Boaz says
here,
read the
text,
Lord bless
him,
Naomi said
to her
daughter-in-law.
He has
not stopped
showing his
kindness to
the living
and the
dead.
And she
added,
that man
is our
close
relative.
He is
one of
our
guardian
redeemers.
Then
Ruth the
Moabite
said,
he even
said to
me,
stay with
my
workers
until
they
finish
harvesting
all
my
grain.
And
Naomi
said to
Ruth,
her daughter-in-law,
it would be
good for you,
my daughter,
to go with
the women
who work for
him because
in someone
else's field
you might
be harmed.
So Ruth
stayed close
to the
women of
Boaz to
glean until
the barley
and wheat
harvest were
finished,
and she
lived with
her mother-in-law.
So she's
got a job.
She has
somewhere that
she can go
every day,
and she can
continue to
keep the
cupboard
full.
And there's
the hope
that Boaz
could be
the man,
Boaz
could be
the
redeemer.
See,
we all
need a
redeemer.
Could
Boaz
be the
redeemer
for
Naomi
and
Ruth?
The
gospel
tells us
that we
need a
redeemer.
We've been
singing this
morning about
the great
redemption.
We're going
to celebrate
the Lord's
Supper.
And what
do we need
redeemed
from?
The
Bible
tells us
that we
are lost
in our
sin,
that we
need
forgiven.
Ephesians
1 says
in verse
6,
to the
praise of
his
glorious
grace,
which he
has freely
given us
in the
one he
loves,
that is
Christ.
In him
we have
redemption
through his
blood,
the forgiveness
of sins
in accordance
with the
riches
of God's
grace.
You see,
Boaz is a
picture of
Christ.
Boaz is
the picture
of our
protector.
Boaz is
the picture
of our
provider.
In the
Old Testament,
this little
book is
showing us
something about
our Lord and
Savior.
He's the
person that
when we
come into
his field,
he makes
sure that
we're protected
and that
there's water
for us to
drink and
that there's
roast his
grain for
us to
eat.
And that
no harm
will come
to us.
And he
did that
by being
able to
buy us
back by
going to
Calvary.
If you
don't know
Jesus this
morning,
if you've
never heard
the gospel,
you can see
it here in
the book of
Ruth.
That's what
Christ did
for you.
He accepted
the foreigner
into his
land.
And in
fact,
all of us
really were
foreigners.
We were
far away
from God.
We were
far away
from the
grace of
God and
it is
only through
Christ that
we have
been brought
near,
brought into
his nation.
We were
thinking also
on Wednesday
night about
that great
verse in
1 Peter.
It says that
we are a
holy nation.
That what we
have become
by coming to
know Christ.
And so we
need a
redeemer.
My question
is, do you
know that you
need a
redeemer?
The idea of
you get those
little coupons
and you can
go in and you
can get one
pound off your
shopping, you
redeem the
coupon.
Well, this
is way
better than
getting one
pound off
your shopping.
Christ has
died to pay
for our
sins so
that we
might know
him, that
we might be
forgiven, that
eternally when
he returns or
when we die,
that we get to
be in his
field forever.
We get to
be in his
field under
his protection,
under his
provision for
all eternity.
We're going
to stand, we're
going to sing
a song, before
that I'm going
to pray.
Let's pray
together.
Heavenly Father,
we thank you
for the
glorious truth
that we find
here in
church.
Amen.