Boaz's Character As A Man Of God

Boaz’s Character- a Man of God, Aug 9nd 2020 Ruth 2

Hello, I'm Pastor Greg with Calvary

Reformed Church.

We started a series last week on the

book of Ruth. I'm finding this to be a pretty

amazing series. Before we start, let's have a word of

prayer: Father God as we come before You

we ask for Your wisdom. As we look at Your word

we ask for open hearts for understanding.

Lord, I ask that I could bring education to the people who are watching this O Lord and a change of heart within their lives to walk with You. I ask all this in Your name Jesus, Amen.

Ruth is a story about Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth and then a future son-in-law by the name of Boaz.

Very briefly, Ruth Chapter 1 talks about the fact that Naomi and her husband live in Bethlehem, the house of bread. But, there is a famine during the time of the Judges. They go to Moab and they live in Moab for a time. However, it ends up being 10 years and Naomi's husband dies. Her two sons marry two Moabite women. Then, both of her sons die. Ruth and her two daughters-in-law head back to the land

of Israel because she hears God has blessed them with food again. Bethlehem, the house of bread with food for one daughter-in-law returns home but Ruth goes back with her.

Last week we ended the video teaching and the drive-in worship with asking the simple question: Are you a Naomi who feels bitter when she had her name changed? Or are you a Ruth who is a friend with someone else? We are going to Chapter 2 and Chapter 2 is interesting because the author of Ruth introduces us to Boaz who is a relative to Naomi’s husband. We will get into the next couple of weeks of what Ruth and what Naomi are called to be, which are a Kinsmen Redeemers. But Ruth and Naomi are destitute. They are two widows with no money, no way of making a living or an income. So what Ruth is able to do is to go into the fields to start gleaning to be part of the harvest.

Within the Old Testament God set it up that the welfare system was that farmer’s people, with means, would leave part of their crops for other people to come out and gather. They would not harvest all the way to the corner. If the farmer’s dropped some things they would leave that for people who would come out and get what they needed to survive. Ruth ends up in a field and the field is owned by Boaz. Boaz, as we're going to see in the next couple of weeks, ends up becoming Ruth's husband.

We hear lots of different things today about men and women. I believe that biblically there is a call for me on how I treat my wife, my daughter, my stepdaughters, my granddaughters, my mother, my sisters, and the other women that I come into contact with. Boaz is a wonderful example here of how, as men, we are called to treat the women that we love in our lives. I’m just going to hit a few of these because there's a lot here within Ruth Chapter 2.

Ruth Chapter 2 starts with explaining how Naomi had a relative on her husband's side who was a man of standing and whose name was Boaz. Ruth then says, ‘Naomi, I need to go out and work in a field.’ She goes out and she just happens to end up in Boaz’s field. I do not think it's a happenstance. I believe totally it was a providence of God leading her there. What we see is interesting in Verse 4 is when Boaz arrives from Bethlehem to the field, he greets his harvesters, “The Lord be with you” and the harvesters call back, “The Lord bless you.”

Boaz’s first aspect of being a Godly man is just simply that: “Be a Godly man, one whose heart is so saturated with your relationship with Jesus Christ that it permeates into all other relationships that you have.” When that takes place friends, then I, as a husband, am so permeated with God it flows into my wife's life.

Men, be a Godly man.

Verse 8, so as Ruth is working there in the field and she's harvesting with other poor people that are in the field and Boaz sees her and Boaz in verse 8 goes up to her and says, “My daughter listen to me, don't go gleam in any other field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.” Boaz initiates a relationship. He does not go out to the other ladies who are poor, who are there, and we're going to see why shortly. He goes to Ruth and he initiates a relationship. He realized that God initiates a relationship with us. He sent his Son, Jesus to redeem us. We are going to get into that in a couple of weeks from now… of what a Kinsmen Redeemer is. But, Boaz initiates conversation. He initiates the relationship with Ruth.