Ruth

Garry Leonard Harding

Ruth • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Introduction

As creatures designed in the image of God, we like to know that we are loved. A wife once asked her husband, “Do you love me?” He replied, “I told you I loved you when we first got married and if I ever change my mind, I’ll let you know.” It is hard to experience love unless it is expressed. God so loves us that every book of the Bible speaks about His loving plans of redemption for us. In the book of Ruth, this plan is revealed in a unique and picturesque manner.

Nestled in the dark ages of the Judges, we find the bright story of Ruth. Like an oasis in the parched desert or a fragrant rose amidst a field of briars, the book of Ruth reminds us that God’s love is alive in the worst of times and the worst of circumstances. This book provides us with a window of insight into God’s care for His people from long ago. Yet the same book is also a doorway of redemption through which God walks into our lives today. A careful study of Ruth reveals to us, at once, the priceless process of God’s redemption and a pristine picture of God’s redemption.

The process is revealed at the end of the story, where it is announced that Ruth’s son, Obed, was eventually to be the grandfather of King David (). It was through David’s line that the Messiah would come (, note verse 5).

The picture of redemption is painted through the sublime and artistic strokes of the story line itself. Nowhere else in the pages of Scripture is there found such a wonderful analogy (or type) of God’s loving plan to redeem us as is found in the book of Ruth. We may summarize the major parts of the account by its chapters:

Chapter 1 The Need for Redemption

Chapter 2 The Man of Redemption

Chapter 3 The Hope of Redemption

Chapter 4 The Cost of Redemption

The Need for Redemption ()

During the period of the Judges (), a famine fell upon the land of Israel, even devastating the fertile regions surrounding Bethlehem. In an effort to survive, a Hebrew, named Elimelech, brought his wife Naomi and their two sons into the land of Moab where they hoped for better fortune. Apparently their hope was in a change of circumstance rather than in the unchanging God. They left the Promised Land, rather than trust the promises of God for renewed blessing and prosperity to the people if they would only turn their hearts back to God ().

After Elimelech died, his sons married Moabite women, choosing to forsake the clear prohibitions of the Lord (). Ten years later, only the three widows remained: Naomi and her two Moabite daughters-in-law. News of new crops in Israel drew Naomi toward her homeland. Naomi urged her two girls to stay, but Ruth insisted on following Naomi, expressing words of devotion that have inspired marriages and friendships for ages: “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” (). Despite Naomi’s efforts to dissuade her, Ruth persisted fully aware that a move to Bethlehem would make Ruth’s hope for re-marriage all but impossible, for Jews were not allowed to marry foreigners (). This was truly a sad period in the lives of Naomi and Ruth. Naomi, whose name means “pleasant,” insisted her friends refer to her as “Mara,” which means “bitter.”

The Man of Redemption ()

Ruth and Naomi arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth wandered the local fields hoping to find some food, dependent on the merciful guideline given long ago to the people of Israel: “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” (Levit- icus 19:9-10). Ruth, by chance, chose the very field of a near kinsman to Naomi, named Boaz. Steps in life that appear coincidental to us are part of the path before us, prepared carefully by God Himself.

Boaz, whose name means, “in him is strength,” found himself drawn to Ruth, even though she was from the land of Moab. When Naomi learned that the man who was attracted to her daughter-in-law was none other than her rich relative, she was overjoyed. Boaz was one of Nao- mi’s kinsman-redeemers. It was established in the law of God that a widow should be provided for by the nearest of kin. This kinsman-redeemer was to provide an heir for the widow (Deuter- onomy 25:5-10) and to redeem any land belonging to her husband which would be lost due to distress or poverty ().

The Hope of Redemption ()

Boaz continued to show kindness to Ruth until the barley and wheat harvests were ended. He did not, however, make a move toward marriage. Naomi urged Ruth to make an approach toward Boaz, that his intentions might be clarified. In obedience to her mother-in-law, Ruth washed, changed, and came to Boaz’s threshing floor, where the men would sleep on or near the grain that it might not be stolen. She uncovered Boaz’s feet, to awaken him. She then asked him to spread the corner of his garment over her (), a request for marriage according to a custom that is still followed in parts of the Middle East today. The spreading of the corner of the garment was a symbolic gesture of protection.

Boaz jumped gratefully at the opportunity, expressing at once his reasons for hesitation in the past: He was considerably older than Ruth (), and there was a kinsman of closer relation to Naomi than Boaz (). He promised to settle accounts with this closer relative immediately.

The Cost of Redemption ()

In the final chapter, we see Boaz claiming Ruth as his bride. He waited at the city’s gates, the place of business, for the nearer relative to pass by. Once Boaz found this relative, he sat him down in the presence of the city’s elders and reminded the relative of his obligations to redeem the land owned by Naomi. Boaz may have been dismayed when his kinsman was willing to do so. He then informed him that marriage to Ruth (or Naomi) would be part of the package.

The nearer kinsman immediately backed out of his obligations, perhaps fearful that the calam- ity that fell upon Naomi’s sons for marrying Moabite women would also fall upon him if he married Ruth. Boaz was quick to seal the transaction and become the kinsman-redeemer. He accepted the sandal of his relative. This was the customary sign at the time that a deal was le- gally binding (). We get the sense that Boaz so loved Ruth that he was willing to pay any price to have her as his wife.

Final Thought

The story of Ruth is a gem, sparkling brightly in the dark and dismal period of the judges. But neither Ruth, nor any love epic, has equaled the love expressed in the fulfilled plan of God in Christ on our behalf. Christ is our kinsman-redeemer.

Never was anyone in so great a need for redemption. Without Christ, we are spiritually poverty stricken (), aliens and strangers to the kingdom of God ().

stricken (), aliens and strangers to the kingdom of God ().

Never was anyone so able and fit to redeem us. Christ, the perfect, sinless, Son of God, became like us, our “kinsman.” He became incarnate, related to us by flesh and blood, that He might have the right to redeem us ().

Never was so great a price offered for any bride. Our Lord and God offered His life on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.

of Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.

Never was anyone so able to redeem us. Christ, like Boaz, has the strength and ability to save us. For Christ is seated at the right hand of God, with all authority, might, and power.

It was the plan of God that we might be taken from our poverty and destitution to share in the riches of Christ’s glory for all eternity. If Ruth and Naomi found reason to rejoice, we can find infinitely more reason!

Devotion (Personal Study)

1. Read .

a. When did this account take place?

b. What was the situation in the land,”and how did that fit with

God’s warnings in ?

c. If you have access to a Biblical map, locate the land of Moab. Approximately how far was it from Moab to Jerusalem?

2. Read , especially noting verse 20. Recount the reasons that Naomi (meaning “pleasant”) might have carried bitterness (the meaning of “Mara”) about the experiences described in this chapter.

3. a.What is the danger of bitterness (; )?

b.What should one do if bitterness creeps into one’s heart

()?

c. Do you harbor any bitterness? If so, confess it to God and pray for deliverance from the same.

4. a. What great blessing did God give to Naomi ()?

b. It is easy for us to see reasons to be bitter, while overlooking the great blessings of God. List three of the greatest blessings God has given to you.

Discussion (Small Group Study)

5. What insight or question from the commentary or your per- sonal study or this week, would you like to discuss and explore further with the group? If you think it helpful, review chapter one and the questions in the personal study section above to grasp the background of the book of Ruth.

6. Read . How was Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi rewarded? See ; . Contemplate the commitment expressed in . How is such commitment rewarded in marriage?

2. Read . How was Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi rewarded? See ; . Contemplate the commit- ment expressed in . How is such commitment re- warded in marriage?

In parent-child relationships?

In friendships?

On the job?

You may wish to describe commitments you have made that have lasted and the blessings derived from the same.

7. Using a study Bible or Bible dictionary, find the significance of the title “kinsman-redeemer” (,; ,,,,). How does this title make Boaz a wonderful type or image of Jesus Christ?

8. Read . Note Ruth’s request for Boaz to “spread the corner of your garment over me” (). This was a request for marriage; a custom still practiced in parts of the Middle East. Was Ruth being bold in this situation?

If you are married, consider telling how you and your spouse met. Do you believe that God ultimately arranges marriages?

9. From , was Boaz as aggressive at settling matters and arranging for the marriage as Naomi predicted ()?

10. Ruth was a Moabite. For what reasons did the Israelites and Moabites have a particular hate for each other (e.g.; , )?

With this in mind, how is the story of Ruth especially meaningful? Take time to pray for strained relationships between friends, families and even countries—asking that God’s redemptive love prevail.

Digging Deeper (Further Study)

11. Read .

a. How was Ruth connected to the line of David?

b. See . Of the tens of thousands of people listed in the Old Testament, note approximately, how many found their names in this genealogical line of redemption?

c. Find Ruth in this list. Note that Rahab is also in the record (). Recall the story of Rahab (). What message might we draw from the lives of these two women, neither of whom were of Jewish descent?

How does God’s inclusion of Ruth in the line of redemptive history encourage you?

d. List people in your life you wish would come to understand and accept God’s redemption through Jesus Christ. Take time to pray for them.

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