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.
We are going to read just Verse 8 and 9 because there is a few points here for Boaz. “I said to Ruth, my daughter, listen to me, don't go and gleam in another field. Do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls and watch the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you and whenever you are thirsty go and get a drink from the water jars that the men have filled.”
Friends, right here it is packed with aspects of what we men are called to do for the women within our lives. I already said here that Boaz initiated the conversation. Boaz also provides for Ruth and for
Naomi. He says stay in my field. Stay working in the field that I have worked with my own maids. Stay with my maids. He provides for her and he also protects her. I love this aspect within the protection
because he says stay in my field. I have commanded my men to watch out for you that no one will touch you, no one will harm you physically, emotionally, spiritually.
Boaz seeks to protect Ruth. Boaz shows hospitality when he says, “Ruth, if you're thirsty go and get some water to drink that my men have drawn from the well.”
Friends, within that culture of that time the women were the ones that drew the water, not the men. But, Boaz is a leader. He tells his men to draw the water and he says to Ruth, “Ruth, if you're thirsty go get what my men have drawn up. Drink what you need. I will show you hospitality.”
So men, be a Godly man. Initiate conversation
with the women in your life. Provide for them. Protect them. Show hospitality to the women in your life. But also Verse 10 says that Ruth says why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me?
Friends, we are called to bestow favor. We are called to offer grace to the women in our lives. Verse 11 says Boaz replied. Why did Boaz give the grace in favor? Boaz says, “I've been told all about what you've done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband and how you left your father and mother in your homeland and you came to live in a country and a land and a people that did not know you.” Boaz praises Ruth.
Let me ask you this… When was the last time you praised your wife? When was the last time you praised your daughter or a granddaughter or your mother or a sister or an aunt? When was the last time that you praised them?
Verse 12 says this, Boaz says, “May the Lord repay you for all that you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord the God of Israel under whose wings you have come to take a refuge.”
We are going to look at that in two more weeks. In chapter 4, Boaz becomes the answer to his own prayer. Boaz prays audibly for Ruth. They have just met and he prays for her.
Friends, do you pray for your wives? Do you pray for your daughters? Do you pray for your aunts, for your mom? I don't mean private prayer; I mean audible prayer.
Do you take their hand, do you bow your head?
Do you lift them up in prayer and do they hear
your words as you are praying for them?
Verse 13, goes on and she says may I continue to find favor in your eyes? You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly about me. Boaz is kind. He speaks kindly. Friends, what type of words do you use with the women in your life? Are they words of building up or words of tearing down? Are they words of love and grace? Are they words of hate and anger? Our job is to build up. Our job is to care for. Our job is to speak words of life. Speak kindly.
Verse 14 Boaz goes on and he says to Ruth at mealtime, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the wine. Sit with me. Sit with all the harvesters.” This was unheard of. Friends, Boaz, having just met Ruth, says come and sit with me. Come and sit with the men. Come and sit, you have no food. I will give you food. Boaz then serves Ruth. He gave her bread and had her dip it in the wine. They sat down and he gave her roasted grain. Boaz served Ruth again.
The simple question men: Are we serving the women in our life or do we expect them to serve us? There are a lot of lessons in here for us isn't there men? Verses 15 through 16 say this: “As Ruth got up to go to gleam, Boaz gave the orders to the men: even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her, rather pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up. Don't rebuke her.”
Two points here. Number one, remember I said at the beginning the fact that the poor people were called to harvest the corners of the field or follow those that were harvesting? We are in a field right now which you can imagine would have been a wheat field. It is more of a hay field, clover field that we're in. This field is owned by Jim and Amy Strubel and they have let me come out here. They are farmers here in the Vicksburg/Three Rivers area.
Boaz says to his workers, “Now if Ruth ends up with the women working, it's okay if Ruth actually gets
a little too close to the men who are harvesting. It's okay to pull some of the stalks out of the barley and the wheat harvest and leave it there for Ruth to take.”
So, what was going on Friends, is the men would harvest and they would be cutting down the wheat. They had cut down the barley and sort of put it all together. The women would come by and those who worked for Boaz would put it into bundles.
Boaz gave Ruth permission to be with the women.
She did not have to be back in the third layer
with the rest of the poor. Boaz told the men
to pull some out and leave it for her be generous.
Boaz was a very generous man to Ruth, but he also again wanted to protect her. He said, “don't rebuke her, don't embarrass her.”
What type of words do we say about our wives? Do we rebuke them? Do we embarrass them in front of other people?
If you’ve never read Ruth Chapter 2, I encourage you to and to think about it within this idea or these ideas of Boaz. The characteristics of a strong man. The name Boaz means strong. One of the pillars in Solomon's temple was called the Boaz Pillar because of its strength.
Friends, we are called to be
? Godly Men
? We are called to initiate the conversation with women in our life
? We are called to provide for them
? We are called to protect them physically, but also how we speak to them or speak to others about them
? We are called to show hospitality to the women in our lives
? to give them favor and grace
? We are called to praise them
? encourage them with our words.
? We're called to pray audibly with them,
? to speak kindly to them,
? to serve them and
? always be generous with them.
Friends, Boaz did this. He ends up, we are
going to find out, marrying Ruth and in the line
of King David which is in the line of Jesus Christ the Messiah. The genealogy of the Messiah. May you and I learn to be men (and women) like Boaz.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
