TEACHING BRIEF
Date Written: July 24, 2012
Date Taught: August 1, 2012
Church: OPBC (Wed Night)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: A Study in the Book of Ruth
Text: Ruth 2:14-23 NLT (read ALL passage here)
Introduction:
So far in our study we have learned about God’s redemption & last week His redemption for Naomi and Ruth was beginning to shape up!
BUT we have ALSO seen all throughout this study how the wonderful reality of God’s redemption is a picture of what can happen for both the backsliding believer & lost sinner who has NEVER known God's grace!
Last week we left the story when Ruth has gone out to a find food through the process of ‘gleaning’. Gleaning is a task that God had commanded the Israelites to allow the poor, widowed, and orphaned and foreigner to have the ability to get food!
Ruth has ventured out, a Moabite… in Israel… remember that it was Moab’s king who was one of the kings that refused the children of Israel safe passage when they were coming out of Israel, so Moabites were not really welcome in Israel.
Ruth has ventured out and has found her way to Boaz’s field. The writer uses a literary tool here to let the readers know that this was guided by the providential hand of God. Ruth is in Boaz’s field because this is where God wanted her to be…
When Ruth arrives she asks permission to work and gets to work gathering grain according to the gleaning laws which means that she could gather what was dropped and what was left in the corners of the field, but she had to stay AWAY from the harvesters… she had to be WELL back from where the grain was actually harvested.
BUT… Boaz sees this new woman in his field and asks about her… He is told WHO she is and the story implies that he was told what she had done and how much she loved Naomi.
Last week as we wrapped up our study we had left Ruth and Boaz in the field, actually in the middle of a conversation. Boaz had come to Ruth and had given her strange instructions for gleaning.
Boaz had told her that she didn’t have to stand back with the rest of the gleaners, but that she could follow his own workers and “glean” directly among the harvest workers!
We learned that Boaz did not simply allow her into his field but Boaz told her 4 things that would have been a great comfort and encouragement to Ruth. Do you remember what those 4 things were?
Stay put! Don’t go to any other fields because you are in the right place…Boaz knew the risks of a foreign woman/widow all alone, and he knew what he was capable of providing…Boaz was telling Ruth that HE was her only hope of surviving… that her efforts elsewhere would only lead to her destruction…
Pay Attention! Do what my other workers do… Boaz had instructed his workers to allow Ruth to work alongside them, this was to give Ruth MORE than she would have gotten thru the gleaning process…
Don’t be afraid! I have guaranteed your safety… Boaz had instructed his workers to not only let Ruth work among them and gather more than MOST of them thought she deserved but Boaz had warned them to not harass her or molest her in any way… she was off limits to them!
Don’t fret for I will provide… Ruth had nothing when she arrived at Boaz’s field and she had probably wondered to herself where she may find water to drink or food to eat while she worked and she may have even resigned herself to going without so that she could get food for her and Naomi…
But Boaz came and said that he would provide for her while she was in his field… FAR MORE than any gleaner could ever expect from the owner of the field
We need to grasp the spiritual picture of what is happening in this story! The things Boaz spoke to Ruth are the same things God speaks to those who seek Him!
Stay put… stay with ME! I’m your best hope!
Pay attention to My instruction and follow those who are paying attention to My instructions!
Don’t fear for I am with you! I will never leave or forsake you!
Don’t worry for I will provide FOR your needs!
These are comforting thoughts for the sinner who believes that God does not care, or that he or she is TOO far gone for God to love!
These are also comforting thoughts for the believer who has fallen away and thinks they are NO LONGER useful to God’s Kingdom… Redemption is available and God is willing to provide it!
But let’s get back to our story… Boaz has spoken with Ruth and Ruth has thanked him for his kindness… THEN Boaz goes a step further! Let’s begin tonight in v.14…
14At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.
Even after Ruth was accepted by Boaz and Boaz had instructed his worker family to accept Ruth as well… Boaz continues his kindness toward her!
Here we read the phrase, ‘…at mealtime…’ this indicates that Ruth was working away and the day was coming near to an end… it was getting time to eat the evening meal.
Boaz informs Ruth that she does not have to leave, that she does not have to go hungry, but that he would feed her… He knew her need and he was offering to meet that need.
Likewise, God has promised to meet our needs! We don’t have to go elsewhere to find nourishment, but in Christ, we can feed on the Word of God! And like Ruth we will have MORE than we have ever hoped for with some to spare!
15When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”
Here in these verses (v.15-16) we actually find Boaz going even further with his kindness and generosity. He had already allowed the foreigner Ruth in his field, he had already given her permission to glean, and he had even given her water to drink and food to eat… BUT now we find that here he is actually telling his servants to help Ruth out!
Gleaning was all about what YOU could do on your own… what YOU could gather from what they had dropped! But here Boaz gives Ruth so much more!
He actually tells his servants to let Ruth come among the already harvested bundles of grain take what she wants AND that they are to drop good grain on purpose for her… This was a source of encouragement for Ruth and it came directly FROM Boaz.
This is also a great picture of our Lord after we come to know Him. We are called into His service and sent out to do His bidding, but God is there and God provides with His presence and provision. God is going to offer up encouragement to his people… God is going to fulfill our needs if we are faithful to His calling! What a comfort!
17So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. 18She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.
Now we see Ruth taking the fruits of her day’s labor and returning to her home with Naomi. Ruth had been blessed by Boaz and now she was taking the fruit of that blessing home to share it with her loved ones…
But again we see another reference her to the great character of Ruth… She had taken her blessing and saved it for someone other than herself! There are many who would horde that for themselves but Ruth thought of others…
You know that this is a great picture of what it looks like when a new believer receives God’s blessed redemption… when His grace is shined on their heart and they receive His salvation.
They take it HOME… they want to share what blessing God has brought to them with their loved ones! This is a natural reaction when God changes a heart… we want to share it!
19“Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
Naomi is inquisitive about what happened to Ruth. She asks where Ruth got the grain and her tone seems like it is beyond belief for Naomi… She had allowed Ruth to go out to find food but did not believe that she would…
After all let’s remember where Naomi was at this time. She had actually changed her name to Mara meaning barren or ‘empty’ because of her situation. So she probably thought… I’ll encourage her but I don’t expect anything good to happen!
Ruth returns with food and Naomi is genuinely please AND shocked! Where did you get this? And then Ruth shared with her what had happened to her and WHO had blessed her!
I want us to look at this verse really close… Ruth does not simply share WHAT happened, but Ruth is careful to detail WHO made this happen! She tells Naomi of Boaz…
This is also a great picture of one who has come to know Christ and has returned home, and there is a noticeable change in who they are… those at home are going to want to know WHAT HAPPENED!
So then the one who has been saved begins to share what has happened in their lives, but more importantly they begin to share WHO has made this happen!
20“May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”
When Naomi heard the story and then WHO made it possible, she REJOICES! This is music to her ears! She is probably thinking that finally God is shining upon her once more!
She rejoices by blessing the person who had blessed her but she also realizes WHO this person is… He is a relative… He is able to REDEEM them… to rescue them in this time of their distress…
When a sinner is saved and they take the good news of the Gospel home with them… and they share this good news, God works in the hearts of those hearing.
Some are going to react with joy for the changing of their loved one! Some will recognize that Jesus is who they need as well to deliver them…
21Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”
Then Ruth gives even BETTER news to Naomi. YES, she had found a friendly field in which to glean for today. And YES she had brought home a lot of grain that would feed them for a while and a meal for this day… BUT also she informs Naomi that Boaz has accepted her to work till the harvest ends…
We also see in v23 where Ruth was able to stay with Boaz’ harvester thru the barley harvest but thru the wheat harvest of the summer as well…
Here is the spiritual parallel for us today… God saves us and gives us forgiveness for our sin up to the day of our salvation, but He also has promised us that we are the benefactors of His grace throughout the end of the age…
Jesus said that he would NEVER leave us nor forsake us… His grace is endless and we are told by Scripture that His mercies are NEW every morning!
22“Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”
Again this is GREAT news for Naomi… now she had seen a miracle for a day that had now turned into a miracle for the entire harvest season! All when she thought God had abandoned her… now she was seeing that God was still delivering and that God still loved her!
It is amazing how seeing another person liberated by the grace of God can change someone else… and make them see things how God wants them to see it!
Naomi basically says, “Ruth, you are on the right track here… stick with Boaz…you will remain safe!” this leads us to an implied sentiment from Naomi here where she believes that they will now be delivered…
23So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.
God intervened in Naomi and Ruth’s life. Just when they believed that all hope was lost and it looked so grim, God delivered for them!
Likewise, when we turn to God, God will deliver us! God can bring us out of any situation, even if it looks hopeless and unchangeable…God can and does work n those situations!
Naomi was once again seeing God’s kindness… not that it had ever left her, but NOW she was seeing it fleshed out in the person of Boaz and his actions toward her!
Life beats us down and many believe God has abandoned them, but thru the actions of God’s son Jesus… we can know that God has NOT abandoned us but has made a way for our salvation and redemption!
