Have you every felt alone? Felt like no one cares? Felt like there was just no hope? Maybe things are going so bad that it feels like even God doesn’t care. You’ve prayed and prayed and even cried out “GOD PLEASE HELP ME??? ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!?!?!?”
I have been there. I have hit my knees, raised my hands and cried out to the Lord: GOD Please let me know you are there.
Today we are going to talk about someone in a similar situation. The story comes from a book called Ruth, but it is about a woman named Naomi. It is a story of Redemption. In fact, the Hebrew word that means Redemption is used 23 times in this story of only 4 chapters!
Naomi, Elimelech, and their two sons live in Bethlehem, the Promised Land. Now everything must be going great, they worship the Lord, no one is sinning, and everything is pretty much hunky doory, right? Wrong!
Though they are living in Bethlehem, the time they are living in is described in the book of Judges. It is a time of religious and moral degeneration, and there is a cycle of foreign oppression.
As you read the bible you will find this vicious cycle that Israelites tend to find themselves in. They get the promised land, praise the Lord, but as generations progress they fall away from the Lord, and the Lord exacts punishment to get them back on track. This is a time of punishment. And the punishment that God uses is a famine. So Bethlehem, the house of bread, has no bread! God is sending His children to bed hungry!
This is not the first time that we see famine in the bible. Look back to the story of Joseph, Genesis 41:54, “and the seven years of famine began”. That was the famine in Egypt. God had a plan in the time of Joseph in Egypt, and we are going to see that God has a plan here as well.
Because of this famine, Elimelech decided that his family was going to leave Bethlehem, the promised land. We don’t know what Naomi had to say about this decision because during that time the man made all of the decisions.
Of all the places that Elimelech could have moved his family to, he chose Moab.
Moab was the home of the Moabites. Look back to the story of Genesis again, just after Sodom and Gomorrah. After God spared Lot and his two daughters on the request of Abraham, In Genesis 19, starting with verse 20:Lot’s two daughters seduced him and they both had babies. The older daughter named her baby Moab, and his decedents are the Moabites. As you can see they are not very moral and Godly.
So Elimelech moves his family to Moab. We don’t get much more information because just as quick as we are informed that they moved to Moab, we find out that Elimelech has died, and their two sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. If it isn’t bad enough that Naomi loses her husband while living in a foreign land, just ten years later BOTH of her sons die!
Now she is left is a foreign land, no family left except the two Moabite widows. And to top things off, there is no trust fund or life insurance policy to come to the rescue. They are broke!
Now Naomi heard that the famine had ended and that the Lord was blessing His people with plenty of food. So Naomi packs up her two daughter in laws and prepares to head back to Bethlehem.
Somewhere along the way Naomi turns to Orpah and Ruth and tells them to go back to their mothers homes and find another husband, because she has nothing more to offer them.
She feels, Ruth 1:13, “the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
Now after hearing this Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye, but RUTH CLUNG TO HER! The word translated clung is the Hebrew word dAbaq which means “to be united”. Ruth was not just holding onto Naomi, Ruth was saying that they were one!
What Ruth says next is so powerful! Ruth 1:16, “Where you go I will go, 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 seriously, if even death separates you and me”!
Not only was Ruth proclaiming that Naomi’s God was now her own God, but she was also surrendering herself to the Lord’s punishment if she was separated from Naomi; even if by death! That’s powerful!
It would make good wedding vows wouldn’t it!
When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem there is quite a stir in town over their arrival. But when the women of Bethlehem speak to her, Naomi says “do not call me Naomi, which means sweet. Call me MARA, which means bitter. She tells them that she went away full, meaning she had her husband and children; but the Lord brought her back empty. She says, “The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me!”
You can see by Naomi’s words that she feels abandoned by God. She fells like the Lord has turned His back on her.
I’m sure that some of you have felt this way.
There is something very special going on in Bethlehem when they return. It was the beginning of the barley harvest. What happens here is that as the workers are harvesting the field, they leave some crop behind according to Leviticus Law. It was like the local food bank. Poor people could go behind the workers and glean. Really, gleaning means that they could pick up the scraps.
So Ruth asks Naomi for permission to go gleaning, and ends up in the field of Boaz.
Now as Ruth was gleaning in the field, Boaz shows up to inspect the work being done by his men. Boaz notices this beautiful woman out there in the field picking up scraps, and literally stops what he is doing and asks about her.
Guys you know what I am talking about here!
What happens next is the first small sign that God has a plan.
Boaz tells Ruth not to go to anyone else’s field, but to stay in his field, and provides her a meal of warm bread, even gives her left overs to take back home! Then he tells his men to allow her to pick up more than what would normally be allowed, and to even pull stalks from their bundles and leave it for her!
I think it is obvious that Boaz has taken a liking to Ruth.
When Ruth returns home and shows Naomi how much she had gleaned, Naomi was shocked. Then Ruth tells Naomi where she got it, and Naomi instantly is filled with joy. She even says that “he is one of our kinsman redeemers”!
There are three characteristics of a kinsman redeemer: be family, be willing, and be able. Boaz had all three characteristics to be Naomi’s Kinsman Redeemer, just as Jesus has all three to be our kinsman redeemer!
Now Naomi comes up with a plan. Since it is coming to an end of harvest time, Boaz was sleeping with his harvest to protect it from being stolen. Up till this point, Boaz has only seen Ruth while she was all sweaty in the fields working. So Naomi tells Ruth to get all dolled up and looking good, then go to the threshing house and wait for Boaz to go to sleep. After Boaz is asleep, Ruth is to go to his feet, uncover them, and lay there.
The end of harvest is when all the men would gather in the threshing house and winnow the grain to separate the grain from the stalk. All the guys would be there taking their pitchforks and throwing the grain into the air, and the breeze would carry the stalk away. This was a party as well, a time of celebration. Kind of like the super bowl. This was a big deal time.
So Boaz had finished winnowing the grain, eating, drinking, and partying it up with the guys and decided it was time for him to get some sleep. Ruth decides that now is the time to make her move. She sneaks up to where Boaz is sleeping and uncovers his feet and lays down at his feet.
This is an interesting symbolism: Boaz at this point represents church, he represents salvation, at this point, Boaz represents REDEMPTION! Ruth on the other hand represents sinners, she represents US! The symbolism here is OUR NEED FOR REDEMPTION!
Have you ever woke up and someone is in the room with you? Parents you know what I am talking about! Its pretty startling. And that’s exactly how Boaz reacts. He even asks, “Who are you?”
Ruth says, “I am your servant Ruth, spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are the redeemer of our family.”
Its kind of strange language now a days, but what she is saying is that she is willing to marry him if he is interested. She is not purposing marriage, but she is purposing that he should purpose! She is saying, I’m in if you are in!
Now Boaz says that he really would like to but there is one other person who rights of marrying her since the marriage would mean obtaining the property that belonged to Ruth’s husband. But he does tell Ruth to stay for the night. There is no hanky-panky though! I don’t want you to read this later and think that something happened that night. It was a dangerous time, remember it was the time of Judges. He is protecting her. They sleep, then he sends Ruth home with a gift of grain.
When Ruth tells Naomi what happened, Naomi says that “The man will not rest until the matter is settled today!”
Chapter four begins with the word ‘meanwhile’. Ruth and Naomi are at home and hoping that everything is going well, they are hoping that Boaz is going to get things worked out. But they really have no idea what is going on.
This brings up another good point to remember: God works behind the scenes, and even when we can’t see what is happening, GOD IS WORKING!
While Naomi and Ruth are sitting at home wondering what is happening, Boaz is busy. Boaz has already rounded up ten elders of the town and asked them to be witnesses to what was about to happen. Boaz is sitting on a gate waiting for the guy who has rights to marry Ruth to come along.
When the guy comes along, we don’t even get a name for this guy. Its kind of one of those, hey you come here moments.
Boaz puts his plan into motion. He says, “Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the property that belonged to her husband Elimelech. I brought these elders here so that if you want to redeem it, you can; but if you do not, I want to. But I have to get your permission because you have first rights.”
The guy says, “ I WANT IT”!
Wow wait a second! This is not how it is supposed to go down. Boaz is supposed to get it, he is supposed to marry Ruth, and this guy is messing the whole thing up!
We are about to see that God has a plan for us, even when things are not looking great. And just as God has plans for us, Boaz has already planned for this.
Boaz says, “on the day you buy the land from Naomi, you acquire Ruth the Moabite in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property!
Just that quick the other guy says, WOOO, nope, you redeem it! I don’t want NO part of that!
Now in Israel, for any deal to be final, one person took off his sandal and gave it to the other person. Pretty strange. But ladies you would always know when your husband bought something new.
So Boaz receives the sandal and announces to the elder witnesses that he will buy the property and marry Ruth!
The elders then say, “May the Lord make the woman like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel!”
That is an amazing blessing!
Next we are told that Boaz and Ruth have a child together. Notice what it says next,
Ruth 4:14, The women say to NAOMI, “praise the Lord, who this day has not left you without a redeemer, may he be famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter in law loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Seven is representative of perfection.
What they say next is a true sign of Naomi’s redemption:
Verse 17: NAOMI HAS A SON! Even after leaving the promised land, and losing everything, not only is Naomi okay, but she has a son!
God provided Naomi with a new family through her Moabite daughter in law Ruth. God REDEEMED Naomi!
What is the name of this child? Continue Verse 17:
They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of DAVID! Obed was King David’s grandfather. The King that God said was a man after His own heart! The ancestor of JESUS! That’s Redemption!
If you could imagine what it was like for Naomi to hold that baby. It didn’t make her miss her husband any less, and it didn’t make her not miss her boys. But im sure that holding that grandbaby was the icing on the cake. The thing she didn’t feel like she deserved but the thing god gave her that makes her tear up every time she see him. I’m sure that we have all had moments like that. When we say, God I didn’t deserve that. Just the forgiveness was enough, but you gave me more. That’s our Obed. We all have Obeds.
Some of you May not see the redemption yet. Maybe you feel like you are still in the field gleaning. I promise that if God did it in here for them, he is going to do it for you. This is why God gave us these words, to tell us what he has done in other peoples lives, which shows us what he will do in our lives.
If you feel like you are still in the field Gleaning. God wants you to know that all you have to do is go to His feet like Ruth did, and just say I NEED YOU, and that I know that things are only going to change is through JESUS. That’s all he wants from you.
Even when everything looks bad. When it seems like all hope is lost and God has turned His back on you. Know that God is working! You may not see His actions, but GOD IS WORKING! God has a plan for you. And I promise you, God’s plan for you is good!
Maybe you have never asked Jesus to be your kinsman redeemer, have never asked him to come into you life. All you have to do is ask. Maybe you strayed a little, or have some things heavy on your heart.
He does not care about your past or the things you have done. He just wants you!
If that’s you I just want to say a prayer that asks Jesus to be your redeemer and that we realize that he came, and died on the cross to take our sins on him so that we wouldn’t have to pay the price for our sins. So that we could spend eternity with him in heaven.
You dont have to move, i dont want to embarass you, this can be personal. you can stay right where you are. but if you want someone to pray with you, you can come up here.
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father, thank you for everything that you are doing. I today want you to be my kinsman redeemer. I want you to rescue me because I realize that I need you. And I want to thank you for dying on the cross for me. And I pray that you take all of me, and help me to follow you. Because today, my life is changed, because you are now my redeemer and have rescued me. In Jesus name, Amen.
God has plans for you, and they are good!
