Ruth Series

October 22, 2022

Full disclosure ----- I have preached on Ruth before and you can find that sermon on this website. When we began our new series "Bible Stories", however, the congregation requested the story of Ruth again, so here it is.

Hopefully, it is enough different for you to see that I actually did put some effort into this sermon and did not just simply regurgitate something that has been done before.

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Ruth 1:1 - In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab.

Famine drove Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two frail sons, Mahlon and Chilion from Judah into Moab, which was an interesting choice since Moab and Israel were enemies.

• Judges 3:12-14 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

For 10 years the family lived in Moab – during that time:

• Elimelech died.

• Mahlon married Ruth.

• Chilion married Orpah.

• Eventually, Mahlon and Chilion also died, leaving all three ladies widows – a bad position to be in in a society where widows had no social standing or economic means to survive.

Naomi had had enough and decided to go home – back to Israel – back to Judah – back to Bethlehem. Why? Because God had made provisions for the care and treatment of widows within Israel’s societal structure:

• Exodus 22:22 - Do not exploit widows or orphans.

• Leviticus 19:9-10 - When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

• Deuteronomy 10:18 - He gives justice to orphans and widows. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.

• Deuteronomy 14:28-29 - At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in the nearest town. Give it to the Levites, who have no inheritance among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.

• Deuteronomy 24:19-21 - When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over the boughs twice. Leave some of the olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. This also applies to the grapes in your vineyard. Do not glean the vines after they are picked, but leave any remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

Fending for herself was one thing, but fending for 3 was an entirely different matter. Naomi tried to persuade Ruth and Orpah that remaining with their own families in Moab would be better for them. Initially, they both insisted on going with her, but eventually Orpah decided to return home. Ruth, however, chose to stay with Naomi, sealing her decision with an oath.

• Ruth 1:16-17 …..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.

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Perfect timing for two widows in need of food. Into the fields Ruth went – more specifically, into Boaz’s fields she went.

• Ruth 2:3-9 - So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech. While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. "The LORD be with you!" he said. "The LORD bless you!" the harvesters replied. Then Boaz asked his foreman, "Who is that girl over there?" And the foreman replied, "She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes' rest over there in the shelter." Boaz went over and said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well."