The Hope That Comes From Your Redeemer Series

Series: 3:16- Numbers That Bring Hope [#8]

THE HOPE THAT COMES FROM YOUR REDEEMER

Ruth 3:16

Introduction:

This morning, we are going to continue our series from chapter 3 verse 16 of each Book of the Bible. Last week we looked at the hope that comes from your disability, today we are going to look at the hope that comes from your Redeemer.

The Book of Ruth tells us the story of 3 women who left Moab as widows. Naomi and her 2 daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth were going back to Bethlehem. Naomi, an Israelite, told her 2 daughters-in-law to go back to their people. Naomi knew that it would be difficult for the 2 women to find husbands in Bethlehem as foreigners. 1 left and 1 stayed with Naomi.

Ruth 1:15-18 (NIV)

“"Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”

In Ruth 3 we see that Naomi had become a different person. She had put away her bitterness and selfishness and was more concerned about Ruth than herself. Naomi’s supreme desire was that Ruth might have a happy future; which meant finding her a husband.

Ruth 3:1-7 (NIV)

“One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do." "I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.”

Ruth was young and needed a husband; but she came from Moab; and the Moabites were not accepted in the nation of Israel. Boaz was Ruth’s and Naomi’s only hope of solving their problems and putting their lives together again. Naomi told Ruth the plan; but in order for this plan to work, Ruth had to fulfill definite conditions. If you are not satisfied with your life, if you want to put it back together, you must fulfill these same conditions in a spiritual way.

There is hope in…

1. The right purpose.

Ruth’s purpose for going to the threshing floor and lying at the feet of Boaz was to establish a lasting relationship with him. In Ruth 1, Ruth didn’t even know that Boaz existed. In Ruth 2 she saw him only as her benefactor- One who fed and protected her. Then she discovered that Boaz was really a relative, a near kinsman who could redeem her. Now Ruth wanted to establish a permanent relationship with him. She wanted him to be more than a benefactor who gave her gifts. She desired the bridegroom, who would share her life and his love with her. Too many Christians want to put their lives together just to escape the problems or receive the blessings and benefits. Naomi and Ruth had the right purpose in mind. Ruth wanted to give herself and her love completely to Boaz.

We must have this same purpose for our lives. To totally commit ourselves to Jesus Christ. Our relationship with the Lord must be more than just a casual friendship for the sole purpose of receiving His protection, blessing and provision. We must desire a deep, intimate relationship with Him. After all, the reason we have problems in our lives to begin with is because we lacked close relationship with Jesus Christ and disobeyed Him as the result.

Naomi realized that Ruth couldn’t continue living the way she was. She was living on the leftovers of others, which would only provide enough to survive; but then Boaz began to give her grain. He invited her to eat with his servants at his table and also gave her bountiful gifts that she brought home; but all this futile without a loving, living relationship with Boaz. By entering into a deeper relationship with Boaz, Ruth enjoyed not only the gifts but the giver. If all you want in life are the gifts God has for you, then you never really will be able to put your life in real order; but if you establish a deep, personal relationship with the giver, then your life can really change.