Well, good morning. Our text for today is Ruth chapter 2. So let me invite you to join me there. Ruth chapter 2. Mark that spot and then go to Matthew chapter 6.
So Ruth chapter 2 is our text for today, but I want you to join me in Matthew chapter 6. Today we have the opportunity to consider the second act in the story of Naomi and Ruth.
Verse 1 of chapter 2 introduces the final human character in this drama, a man named Boaz. So we have Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.
We will observe today the character quality of both Ruth and Boaz, but we need not lose sight that the major player in this narrative is God himself, as in all biblical narratives.
Recall I made the case to you last week that the primary work of the author of this book is to display God's sovereign goodness, his providential care for his people in the lives of these three characters.
Chapter 1 and verse 1 sets the stage for the book of Ruth. There it says,
In the days when the judges ruled. This is an unsettled time in Israel's history.
Widespread uncertainty, rebellion against God's good commands, power grabs and abuses.
Here, though, in the book of Ruth, we zoom in and can and should appreciate God's loving kindness to these two widows and to their kinsman redeemer.
When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem, mere survival is on their minds. Without husbands or sons, they have no real mean for provision.
The narrator sets the scene for chapter 2 with God's providence provision in mind at the end of chapter 1.
There he writes in verse 22 of chapter 1,
And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
How are they to be provided for?
Well, we get a clue here.
God has orchestrated their arrival at a time of plenty, and he has a plan for their provision.
This chapter is a wonderful, real-life display of the instruction that Jesus gives recorded in Matthew 6, beginning in verse 25.
I referenced this briefly last week.
There he says,
What shall we drink?
What shall we wear?
For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
God has promised to provide, and he does so providentially.
Providence is God's provide-ence.
Charles Spurgeon, the first part of this quotation is on the back of your bulletin, once wrote this,
All things live and move in him, and have their being, nor could they live or move otherwise, for God hath so ordained them.
I hear one say,
Well, sir, you seem to be a fatalist.
No, far from it.
There is just this difference between fate and providence.
Fate is blind.
Providence has eyes.
And then he goes on.
Fate is blind, a thing that must be.
It is just an arrow shot from a bow that must fly onward, but hath no target.
Not so providence.
Providence is full of eyes.
There is a design in everything, and an end to be answered.
All things are working together, and working together for good.
They are not done because they must be done, but they are done because there is some reason for it.
It is not only that the thing is because it must be, but the thing is because it is right it should be.
God hath not arbitrarily marked out the world's history.
He had an eye to the great architecture of perfection when he marked all the aisles of history and placed all the pillars of events in the building of time.
Isn't that good?
Purposeful.
Sovereignty.
And this included all of that planning, the minutia of our daily bread.
And so, we have no need, as God's people, to be anxious for anything.
So let's look at the birds of the air and consider the lilies of the field and think about the lives of Naomi and Ruth and Boaz.
Ruth chapter 2.
Before I read, beginning in verse 1, I'd like to remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us,
written for his glory and our good, and so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
Ruth 2.
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,
Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.
And she said to her,
Go, my daughter.
So she set out 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 clan of Elimelech.
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem.
And he said to the reapers,
The Lord be with you.
And they answered,
The Lord bless you.
Then Boaz said to a young man who was in charge of the reapers,
Whose young woman is this?
And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered,
She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.
She said,
Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.
So she came,
And she has continued from early morning until now,
Except for a short rest.
Then Boaz said to Ruth,
Now listen, my daughter.
Do not go to glean in another field or leave this one,
But keep close to my young women.
Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping,
And go after them.
Have I not charged the young men not to touch you?
And when you are thirsty,
Go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.
Then she fell on her face,
Bowing to the ground,
And said to him,
Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me,
Since I am a foreigner?
But Boaz answered her,
All that you have done for your mother-in-law
Since the death of your husband has been fully told to me,
And how you left your father and mother and your native land
And came to a people that you did not know before.
The Lord repay you for what you have done,
And a full reward be given you by the Lord,
The God of Israel,
Under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
Then she said,
I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord,
For you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant,
Though I am not one of your servants.
And at mealtime Boaz said to her,
Come here and eat some bread,
And dip your morsel in the wine.
So she sat beside the reapers,
And he passed to her roasted grain,
And she ate until she was satisfied,
And she had some left over.
When she rose to glean,
Boaz instructed his young men,
Saying,
Let her glean even among the sheaves,
And do not reproach her.
And also pull out some from the bundles for her,
And leave it for her to glean,
And do not rebuke her.
So she gleaned in the field until evening.
Then she beat out what she had gleaned,
And it was about an ephah of barley.
And she took it up and went into the city.
Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.
She also brought out and gave what food she had left over,
After being satisfied.
And her mother-in-law said to her,
Where did you glean today?
And where have you worked?
Blessed be the man who took notice of you.
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked,
And said,
The man's name with whom I work today is Boaz.
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law,
May he be blessed by the Lord,
Whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.
Naomi also said to her,
The man is a close relative of ours,
One of our redeemers.
And Ruth the Moabite said,
Besides, he said to me,
You shall keep close by my young men
Until they have finished all my harness.
And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law,
It is good, my daughter,
That you go out with his young women,
Lest in another field you be assaulted.
So she kept close to the young women of Boaz,
Gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvest.
And she lived with her mother-in-law.
So the second act of this story
Displays God's providential provision
For the needs of his people.
But it's also important for us to note
That this providential provision
Works in congruence with human agency.
God does not separate the ends from the means.
So with God's sovereign grace in mind,
Let's also note the activity of the human players
In this chapter in the following brief outline.
Number one, we'll consider Ruth's diligent labor.
Secondly, Boaz's lavish generosity.
And thirdly, and very briefly,
Naomi's increased faith.
So look firstly at Ruth's diligent labor.
The narrator makes it evident
That Ruth does not wait for some solution
To fall into her lap,
But she is likely familiar with Jewish laws,
Which we'll speak about a bit more in a moment.
And so she asks permission of her mother-in-law,
Of Naomi,
To glean from the barley harvest.
And we see that there in verse 2.
Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain
After him in whose sight I shall find favor.
So those things that were not picked up
In the process of harvesting,
That were dropped along the way,
She was allowed to go and pick up
After those harvesters.
Now, there doesn't seem to be a distinction of fields
In the narrator's mind,
Which I just thought was interesting,
But simply a field.
So she goes out to glean,
Verse 3 says,
In the field,
After the reapers,
Which seems to be a bit like saying
She gleaned in the countryside.
Nevertheless,
There is a distinction,
And Boaz makes a distinction about his field.
But here there's a distinction
That at least a part of the field
Belongs to him.
And we see that at the end of verse 3.
She happened to come
To the part of the field belonging to Boaz.
And then this repetition of who he is
Of the clan of Elimelech.
The inclusion of the word happened
Is not meant to make us think of this
As an accident.
It's kind of how I read it in English, right?
She accidentally,
She stumbled upon this part of the land
That belonged to Boaz.
But recall that Boaz
Has already been introduced
At the beginning of the chapter.
And to the Jewish reader
Introduced as a possible redeemer,
Which we're going to spend a lot of time on
In the coming weeks.
He may be able,
He possibly has the power
To fix all of Naomi and Ruth's problems.
So he's been introduced in that way.
And so it is no accident
That Ruth arrived in the part of the field
Belonging to Boaz.
The narrator then tells us
That Boaz arrives at the field
And asks who Ruth is.
In verse 6,
The servant who's in charge of the reapers
Answered,
She is the young Moabite woman
Who came back with Naomi
From the country of Moab.
We talked at length about this
In chapter 1.
If you're here for the first time
And unfamiliar,
I would encourage you to go read
Chapter 1.
So,
She comes in verse 7
And says,
Please let me glean
And gather among the sheaves
After the reapers.
There's some debate about verse 7.
The servant says,
She came and she has continued
From early morning until now
Except for a short rest.
Either,
Ruth has been gleaning this whole time.
She came early in the morning.
The assumption on my part
Is that Boaz is not out late in the day
But he's come out sometime in the morning.
So she's been there early
And she's been gleaning the whole time
Except for a short rest.
Or,
When she comes to this portion of the field
She has asked permission to glean,
We see,
But she's been asking the permission
Persistently.
Perhaps she's arrived at this
Edge of the field
Where this activity is going on
And she doesn't think she has the right
As a foreigner
To step onto this land
And to glean
And so she's been asking to glean
And she's been asking
And asking and asking
It almost seems like the servant is saying
She's been asking
Except for a little while
She stopped asking
But she's still been asking.
Now,
Either way,
Whichever way you want to read it
And again,
It's kind of down the middle
People think one way or the other.
Either way though,
She has been working.
And she's been working hard
To make provision for her
And for Naomi.
She's been at it.
She's been out there
Trying to get this provision
Pulled together.
And this point is reinforced
By the record of verse 17.
There it says,
So she gleaned in the field
Until evening.
There's this great generosity
On Boaz's part,
But it's not without her work.
She continues to work
Throughout the day
And into the evening.
And then we see that she
Beats out what she had gleaned
And it was about an ephah
Of barley.
And once again,
There's a disagreement here
On how much exactly
An ephah was.
Some say it would have been
Six gallons in total.
Others say ten gallons.
The former would have
Either way,
In response to the generosity
Of Boaz,
Ruth still did
A lot of work.
Every bit of this
Had to be picked up
And carried
And processed.
There were no tractors.
There was any kind of
Implements being used.
It wouldn't have been used
By her.
This was all
Labor done
By her
Hands.
Ruth's persistent labor
Serves as an example
For us to be diligent
In the work that God
Has placed
Before us.
And we all
Have some
Task
To be faithful in.
Whether we are
Crunching numbers
Or
Manipulating spreadsheets
Or
Building houses
Or
Studying
Textbooks
Raising children
Educating them
Wiping their
Noses
Or
Shepherding
Souls
All should be done
With great
Diligence.
She's just a beautiful
Picture
Of that.
From early morning
Until late
In the evening
As a response
To this
Generosity.
And we are not
To be diligent
Just for our own
Sake
But also
For the sake
Of others.
Normatively
Not always
But normatively
Hard work
Is rewarded.
We want to
Teach our children
This.
There's reward
To good
Steady
Labor.
The author
Of the Proverbs
Speaks to this
Very end.
The goal
Though
Of that
Reward
Ought
To be
The good
Of others.
Listen to Paul's
Exhortation
In Ephesians
Chapter 4
In verse
28.
There he says
Let the thief
No longer
Steal.
And
What's often
Written about
This text
That he's
Addressing
Those who
Weren't
Contributing
To the life
Of the church
But were
Taking from
It.
They weren't
Working but
They were
Receiving the
Generosity
Of the church.
He says
Let the thief
No longer
Steal but
Rather
Let him
Labor
Doing honest
Work with
His own
Hands.
The implication
There is for
His own
Provision.
But Paul
Goes on
So that
He may have
Something to
Share
With anyone
In need.
I think
That's just
Astounding.
The goal
Of the
Reward of
Labor
Not being
Just
Example of
Diligent
Work on
Ruth's
Part.
It's the
Human agency
That plays
Into God's
Provision
For her.
And then
We get to
See Boaz
As a
Wonderful
Example
Of generosity
To those
In need.
So one
Who also
Is laboring
Not in
The same
Measure.
He's now
Managing
A field
Of
Reapers
But he's
Doing
This
And serving
Others
In
The process
Let's look
Secondly
At Boaz's
Lavish
Generosity
Before we
Consider Boaz's
Generosity
Let's just
Take a
Moment to
Consider
Boaz
The man
Once again
We see that
Introduction
In chapter
Two
And verse
One
That Naomi
Had a
Relative
Of her
Husband's
A worthy
Man
Of the
Clan
Of Elimelech
Whose name
Was Boaz
There are
Three observations
Concerning
Boaz
Here
The first
And the
Third
Hint at
A potential
Family
Obligation
To Naomi
And the
Second
That he
Is a
Worthy
Man
Suggests
That he
Has the
Character
And ability
To fulfill
That obligation
He's worthy
For this
Task
To be used
By God
To provide
For Naomi
And for Ruth
This idea
Develops
Further
In verse
Four
Here we see
Boaz comes
From Bethlehem
He comes
From the city
Center
Where he
Would have
Lived
And he
Comes out
To his
Field
And he
Says
To the
Reapers
To his
Employees
The Lord
Be with
You
And they
Answer
The Lord
Blessed
God
Has granted
To him
And I
Believe the
Narrator
Includes
The greetings
Of verse
Four
To show
Us
That Boaz
Wishes
Good for
His workers
And they
For him
By placing
God
At the
Center
Of their
Interactions
It's a
Very tiny
But very
Encouraging
Literal
Interaction
For those
Who have
Employees
Under them
And for
Those who
Are
Employees
The Lord
Be with
You
And the
Answer
The Lord
Bless
You
I think this
One little
Verse gives
Us some
Picture of
Boaz's
Quality
As a
Manager
Those employees
Felt something
Of him
And for
Him
Remember
This is taking
Place in the
Days when the
Judges
Ruled
And the
Days when the
Judges
Ruled
Judges
Chapter
21
And
Verse
25
Tells
Us
Everyone
Did
What
Was
Right
In
His
Own
Eyes
A
Big
General
Statement
Because it
Doesn't
Seem to
Be
So
With
Boaz
Observes
A woman
In
His
Portion
Of
The
Field
And
He
Obeys
God's
Commands
Concerning
Her
Keep
Your
Hand
In
Ruth
Chapter
2
And
Turn
With
Me
To
Deuteronomy
Chapter
24
This is
One of
A
Number
Of
Places
That
This
Command
Is
Given
I'll
Begin
Reading
In
Verse
19
Deuteronomy
24
Verse
19
Here
God
Commands
When
You
Reap
Your
Harvest
In
Your
Field
And
Forget
A
Sheaf
In
The
Field
You
Shall
Not
Go
Back
To
Get
It
Shall
Be
For
The
Sojourner
The
Fatherless
And
The
Widow
That
The
Lord
Your
God
May
Bless
You
In
All
The
Work
Of
Your
Hands
When
You
Beat
Your
Olive
Trees
You
Shall
Not
Go
Over
Them
Again
It
Shall
Be
For
The
Sojourner
The
Fatherless
And
The
Widow
You
Shall
Remember
That
You
Are
A
Slave
In
The
Land
Of
Egypt
Therefore
I
Command
You
To
Do
This
But
Now
Just
Practically
Speaking
The
Lord
Is
Not
Commanding
Here
That
You
Be
Lazy
In
Your
Harvesting
But
Inevitably
You're
Going
To
Leave
Stuff
Behind
You're
Going
To
Miss
Something
Don't
Go
Back
Over
It
Again
Leave
It
There
It's
A
Measure
Of
Generosity
Right
That
People
Can
Come
Behind
And
Do
That
Careful
Gleaning
Of
What's
Left
Over
This
Command
Was
A
Practical
Way
That
God
Ordered
For
The
Provision
Of
The
Less
Fortunate
Right
Those
Who
Are
Being
Listed
Here
Are
Those
Who
Didn't
Have
Rights
To
The
Land
But
Note
The
Founding
Principle
!
Of
It
In
Verse
22
This
Is
Why
I
Wanted
You
To
Turn
There
And
See
It
Yourself
Right
So
Do
This
Generous
Work
Of
Leaving
Behind
Those
Things
That
You
Miss
Because
Verse
22
God
States
I
Have
Been
Generous
Toward
You
I
Delivered
You
From
Slavery
Now
You
Are
To
Be
Generous
Toward
Others
Right
You
Were
A
Slave
In
The
Land
Of
Egypt
Therefore
I
Command
You
To
Do
This
So
We
See
This
Boaz
Right
Being
Obedient
To
This
Command
Right
To
Allowing
For
Naomi
To
Come
Even
As
A
Foreigner
And
To
Glean
In
His
Field
So
Boaz
Knows
This
And
He
Provides
For
And
He
Protects
Ruth
So
You
See
In
Verse
8
Boaz
Says
To
The
Ruth
Now
Listen
My
Daughter
Do
Not
Go
Glean
In
Another
Field
Or
Leave
This
One
But
Keep
Close
To
My
Young
Women
And
You
See
At
The
Very
End
Of
The
Chapter
That
She
Does
This
Through
The
Barley
And
Then
The
Wheat
Harvest
For
This
Extended
Period
Of
Time
She
Is
Able
To
Come
Back
And
Glean
And
Have
This
Provision
!
He
Says
In
Verse
9
Let
Your
Eyes
Be
On
The
Field
That
They
Are
Reaping
And
Go
After
Them
Follow
Them
Around
Then
He
Says
Have
I
Not
Charged
The
Young
Men
Not
To
Touch
You
And
You
See
Him
Pulling
Those
Young
Men
Aside
And
Saying
Hey
She
Not
To
Be
Touched
And
When
You
Are
Thirsty
Go
To
The
Vessels
And
Drink
What
The
Young
Men
Have
Drawn
The
Work
They've
Done
To
Bring
That
Water
Up
Out
Of
The
Ground
And
They've
Stored
It
There
For
People
To
Particip
And
Being
Refreshed
In
That
Way
!
So
She
Sat
Beside
The
Reapers
He's
Elevated
Her
To
This
Position
And
He
Passed
To
Her
Roasted
Grain
And
She
Ate
Until
She
Was
Satisfied
And
She
Has
Some
Left
Over
So
Much
That
She
Takes
It
To
Naomi
And
Shares
It
With
Her
So
He's
Providing
For
Her
And
He's
Protecting
Her
Verse
22
We
See
This
Instruction
Given
Beyond
There
Naomi
Says
To
Ruth
It
Is
Good
My
Daughter
That
You
Go
Out
With
His
Young
Women
Lest
In
Another
Field
You
Be
Assaulted
Everyone
Doing
What's
Right
In
Their
Own
Eyes
A
Dangerous
Place
To
Be
And
So
We
Have
Boaz
Who
Both
Provides
For
And
Protects
Ruth
And
By
Extension
!
Naomi
And
Boaz
Does
This
Lavishly
I
Really
Think
That
Boaz
Gets
Deuteronomy
24
Verse
19
Through
22
I
Don't
Think
He's
Merely
Following
The
Letter
Of
The
Law
But
The
Spirit
Of
It
Boaz
You
See
Boaz
Was
Never
Himself
A
Captive
In
Egypt
That
Command
In
Verse
22
To
Remember
That
He
Was
A
Slave
In
Egypt
Doesn't
Apply
Directly
To
Him
But
He
Sees
The
Principle
At
Play
That
God
Is
Displaying
Here
In
That
Text
God
Is
His
Provider
And
His
Protector
What
He
Has
He
Has
Because
Of
The
Gracious
!
Kindness
God
And
Therefore
He
Is
To
Be
Used
Of
God
To
Bring
The
Same
To
Others
Boaz
His
Understanding
Of
God's
Sovereign
Grace
Is
Reflected
Proportionally
In
His
Kindness
Towards
Ruth
He
Extends
God's
Been
So
Kind
To
Me
Look
What
He's
Done
For
Me
And
Then
He
Turns
And
Does
This
For
Her
Now
Note
That
He
Has
He
Left
Your
Father
And
Mother
And
Your
Native
Land
And
Came
To
A
People
That
You
Did
Not
Know
Before
I've
Seen
I've
Heard
Tell
Of
How
You
Gave
Up
And
Sacrificed
For
The
Sake
Of
Your
Mother
In
Law
And
He
Speaks
This
Blessing
The
Lord
Repay
You
For
What
You
Have
Done
And
That's
Not
An
Empty
Blessing
He's
The
One
Bringing
!
The
Provision
And
A
Full
Reward
Be
Given
You
By
The
Lord
The
God
Of
Israel
Under
Whose
Wings
You
Have
Come
To
Take
Refuge
Remember
From
The
First
Chapter
Who
Saying
To
Naomi
That
Her
God
Would
Be
Hers
She
Has
Come
With
Her
Expecting
The
Provision
And
Here
It
Is
Being
Provided
For
Her
So
We
See
At
The
End
Of
The
Chapter
She
Keeps
Close
To
The
Young
Women
Of
Boaz
Gleaning
Until
The
End
Of
The
Barley
And
Wheat
Harvest
And
We
Close
!
Out
The
Scene
And
She
Lived
With
Her
!
In
Law
That's
With
Naomi
Just
As
We
Have
Lessons
To
Be
Learned
From
Ruth
We
Also
Have
Much
To
Learn
From
Boaz
We
Who
Have
Been
Shown
Such
Generosity
We
Ought
To
Be
Generous
We
Should
Identify
With
Both
Of
These
Characters
And
Find
Instruction
For
Us
And
You
May
Say
I
Do
Not
Own
Fields
Some
Of
You
Do
Most
Of
Us
Do
Not
Own
Fields
And
That's
So
Certainly
True
Then
What
Do
You
Have
To
Give
Stop
And
Think
How
Has
The
Lord
Blessed
Me
What
Is
It
That
I
Also
Have
To
Give
And
I
Want
Your
Thinking
To
Be
Led
Broader
Than
Just
Financial
Resources
Although
Certainly
That's
On
The
Table
As
Well
But
To
Time
And
To
Talents
And
To
Energy
How
Has
God
Resourced
You
That
You
Might
Use
Those
Resources
To
Be
A
Blessing
For
Others
!
Well
But
I
Can
Tell
You
That
One
Of
My
Great
Concerns
About
American
Christianity
Is
How
Self
Oriented
It
Is
As
People
Involve
Themselves
In
The
Life
Of
The
Church
They're
Looking
For
What
They
Get
Out
Of
The
Church
And
You
Could
Be
A
Consumer
Of
Good
Things
That
Are
Proper
!
And
Ordered!
You
Ought
To
Be
Served
!
When
You
Come
And
Gather
With
God's
People
But
Your
Mindset
Should
Be
How
Do
I
Show
Up
And
Serve?
What
Has
God
Given
Me
That
I
Might
Contribute
For
The
Sake
Of
Others?
And
I
Think
We
Would
Find
The
Church
To
Be
Such
A
Beautiful
Growing
Organization
If
Everybody
Had
That
Mentality
When
They
Came
I
Think
We
Would
Find
Our
So
Receiving
Far
More
Than
We
Ever
Would
Have
!
Expected
To
Receive
If
We
Would
Show
Up
With
A
Mind
Toward
What
Can
I
Contribute
To
The
Kingdom
Of
God
Christian
People
Should
Be
Marked
By
Manifold
Generosity
At
Every
Single
Turn
The
Principle
Of
The
Gleaning
Commandment
Applies
To
Us
Today
Who
Have
Been
Delivered
Not
From
Slavery
In
Egypt
But
From
The
Slavery
Of
Sin
We
Have
Everything
In
Christ
Which
Includes
Our
Temporal
Needs
But
It
Also
Includes
Those
Needs
That
Are
So
Much
Weightier
Paul
Writes
In
2nd
Corinthians
Chapter
8
And
Verse
9
For
You
Know
The
Grace
Of
Our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
That
Though
He
Was
Rich
Yet
For
Your
Sake
He
Became
Poor
So
That
You
By
His
Poverty
Might
Become
Rich
And
This
Has
Nothing
To
Do
With
Financial
Provision
This
Is
All
About
Christ
Emptying
Himself
Giving
Up
His
Place
With
The
Trinity
That
He
Might
Come
And
Live
And
Die
On
Our
Beh
That
We
Might
Have
Restored
Relationship
With
God
We
Are
A
Rich
People
If
We
Are
Gods
Regardless
Of
Our
Financial
Status
We
Have
Things
To
Give
To
Others
Oh
May
We
Spend
And
Be
Spent
For
The
Temporal
And
More
Importantly
Eternal
!
Good
Of
Others
Now
Finally
Let's
Note
Just
In
Brief
A
Result
Of
Ruth's
Diligent
Work
And
Boaz's
Lavish
Generosity
And
I
Just
Love
To
See
This
Little
Brief
Moment
In
Chapter
Two
We
See
An
Increase
It
Seems
To
Be
An
Expression
Of
Increase
In
Naomi's
Faith
And
Remember
You
May
In
Ruth
Chapter
One
When
She
Arrives
In
Bethlehem
Everybody
Is
Abuzz
They're
Saying
Isn't
That
Naomi
But
She
Says
To
Them
In
Verse
20
And
21
Do
Not
Call
Me
Naomi
Which
Means
Pleasant
Call
Me
Mara
Which
Means
Bitter
For
The
Almighty
Has
Dealt
Very
Bitterly
With
Me
I
Went
Away
!
Full
And
The
Lord
Has
Brought
Me
Back
Empty
Why
Call
Me
Naomi
When
The
Lord
Has
Testified
Against
Me
And
The
Almighty
Has
Brought
Calamity
Upon
Me
Now
I
Don't
Want
To
Minimize
In
Any
Way
That
The
Loss
Of
Her
Husband
And
Her
Two
Sons
Was
Not
A
Great
Tragedy
In
Her
Life
But
We
Are
Now
Ten
Years
On
From
The
Loss
Of
Her
Boys
And
She
Has
Returned
Back
To
Bethlehem
In
A
Time
Of
Plenty
There
Is
This
Potential
To
Be
Redeemed
In
This
Place
And
She
Would
Rather
To
Be
Called
Bitter
Than
Pleasant
And
Her
Faith
Just
Seems
To
Be
So
Thin
At
This
Point
In
The
Narrative
She
Seems
Naomi
But
Then
We
See
In
Verse
20
Of
Chapter
2
Ruth
Returns
With
This
Provision
She
Hears
Who
Gave
It
To
Her
Boaz
And
Naomi
Said
To
Ruth
Verse
20
May
He
Be
Blessed
By
The
Lord
Boaz
May
Boaz
Be
Blessed
By
The
Lord
Whose
Kindness
Has
Not
Forsaken
The
Living
Or
The
Dead
There
Is
Some
Uncertainty
Here
About
Whether
Naomi
Is
Saying
That
Boaz
Kindness
Has
Not
Forsaken
Them
Or
If
The
Lord's
Kindness
Has
Not
Forsaken
Them
But
Either
Way
She
Sees
This
Provision
As
Coming
From
God
She's
Beginning
To
Utter
Blessing
As
A
Result
Of
It
We
See
This
Little
Hint
Of
Naomi's
Increased
Faith
And
It
Is
A
Result
Of
Ruth's
Diligent
Work
And
Boaz
Is
Lavish
Generosity
All
Taking
Place
In
The
God
Has
Promised
To
Provide
He
Provides
For
All
Our
Spiritual
Needs
In
Christ
Jesus
Amen
He
Provides
For
All
Our
Temporal
Needs
By
The
Same
Mighty
Hand
Weary
Christian
Rest
In
God's
Providence
For
Your
Provision
This
Morning
Weary
Sinner
These
Promises
Are
Not
True
For
You
Repent
And
Believe
In
Christ
For
The
Salvation
Of
Your
Soul
Let's
Pray
Together