Kinsman Redeemer — A Story of God’s Care

Book of Ruth • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

0 ratings

· 34 views

The daily lives of Ruth and Boaz, and their budding romance, seem to have little to do with God’s cosmic purposes, but even so, God is the master conductor orchestrating His plan of redemption.

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Text: Ruth 2:1-23

Theme: The daily lives of Ruth and Boaz, and their budding romance, seem to have little to do with God’s cosmic purposes, but even so, God is the master conductor orchestrating His plan of redemption.

Date: 08/21/2022 File Name: Ruth_02 Code: OT08-02

Billy Graham was the son of a prosperous dairy farmer, and grew up in rural North Carolina. In 1934, while attending a revival meeting he underwent a religious experience and professed his faith in Christ. In 1936 he left his father’s dairy farm to attend college. He graduated from Florida Bible Institute near Tampa in 1940, and was ordained a minister by the Peniel Baptist Church in Palatka, Florida. After a brief and undistinguished stint as pastor of Western Springs Baptist Church in the western suburbs of Chicago, Graham decided to become an itinerant evangelist. The rest, as they say, is history.

But consider the back-story to Billy Graham’s story. Take Edward Kimball, for an example. Never heard of him? Rest assured — most people have never heard of him. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher who not only prayed for the hyper boys in his class but also sought to personally win each one to the Lord. One young man, in particular, didn’t seem to understand what the gospel was about so Kimball went to the shoe store where he was stocking shelves and confronted him in the stock room with the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That young man was Dwight L. Moody. In the stockroom on that Saturday, he believed the gospel and received Jesus Christ as his Savior. D.L. Moody grew up and became an evangelist. In his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God, with hundreds of thousands professing Christ through his ministry.

Moody went on to influence a man named F.B. Meyer, a London Baptist pastor. Meyer’s congregation told him that they wanted this newly famous evangelist, Moody, to come preach to them. So, Meyer reluctantly agreed to let his congregation bring in Moody. Upon meeting the evangelist, the highly-educated Meyer took an instant dislike to the barely-educated Moody. But Moody’s preaching revived his heart. The two would become fast friends. Meyer came to America on several preaching tours, and during one of those tours a student by the name of Wilbur Chapman was saved, and he became a great evangelist, leading tens of thousands of people to Christ. One of them was a former baseball player named Billy Sunday, who then quit baseball and traveled with Chapman doing evangelistic work.

Billy Sunday became one of the most well-known evangelists of his day, and under his preaching Mordecai Ham came to faith in Christ. Mordecai would grow up to become an evangelist. One year, Billy Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was so successful that a group of thirty businessmen decided to hold a series of prayer meetings asking God to continue the revival. In the Spring of 1934 a dairy farmer lent those businessmen some land on which to erect a tent and hold those prayer meetings. At one of those meetings, Vernon Patterson, the leader of the businessmen prayed, “Out of Charlotte may the Lord raise up someone to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.” Those men then scheduled another revival asking the fiery Mordecai Ham to come and preach.

The farmer who lent the businessmen his field was Franklin Graham, and his son Billy became a Christian during that revival meeting. It is estimated that Billy Frank Graham preached to 2.2 billion people during his lifetime.

Aren’t those the most amazing set of coincidences you’ve ever heard? Blind chance is such an amazing predictor of human fate. Yeah ... right.

I told you last Sunday that there are no coincidences in life. That truth continues in the second chapter of the Book of Ruth. The daily lives of Ruth and Boaz, and their budding romance, seem to have little to do with God's cosmic purposes, but even so, God is the master conductor orchestrating His plan of redemption.

I. BOY SEES GIRL

Ruth 2:1–7

1. the second chapter opens with two events that set the stage for this chapter

a. 1st, Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest

1) this tells us that it was springtime

2) both barley and wheat were sown in the Fall and ripened in the Spring

3) barley was the more important of the two since it would grow in poorer soil and harsher conditions

b. 2nd, Naomi’s deceased husband had a relative in Bethlehem who was a man of standing

1) Boaz evidently had wealth, social standing, and community respect

2) as I shared last week ... he’s one of Bethlehem’s most eligible bachelors

c. by His grace God is going to providentially bring Boaz and Ruth together

A. THE STORY REVEALS RUTH’S CHARACTER

1. Her Dedication — we already know from chapter one that Ruth reveals herself as a person of devotion who takes the responsibility of relationships seriously

a. when Naomi is at the lowest point in her life Ruth refuses to leave her

1) Naomi is an elderly widow who has also lost both of her sons to death

a) her social net has disappeared

b. though strongly encouraged by her mother-in-law to return to her own family, her own people and her own nation Ruth steadfastly refuses to leave Naomi’s side

“But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”” (Ruth 1:16–17, ESV)

1) this passage is often used a Christian weddings as a groom and bride pledge their lives to each other

2) but as you can see, it’s actually words of a newly-widowed younger woman spoken to a long-widowed older woman

c. Ruth tells Naomi, “Stop encouraging me to abandon you — I won’t do it!”

1) this devotion becomes an important part of the story here in chapter two

2) when she asks Boaz “Why have I found favor in your sight?” he singles out her sacrifices

“But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.” (Ruth 2:11, ESV)

2. Her Devotion — more important than dedicating herself to her mother-in-law, she devotes herself to her mother-in-law’s God

a. Ruth chooses to abandon the pagan deities she had grown up worshiping in Moab

b. she now makes the conscience choice to cling to Israel’s God — Yahweh, the One True God

c. in Ruth 2:12 Boaz praises her for her faith ...

“The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”” (Ruth 2:12, ESV)

1) isn’t that a beautiful way to describe faith?

2) its taking refuge under the arms of God who protects us as a hen protects her chicks

3. Her Diligence — Ruth is determined to do the hard work of providing for herself and Naomi

a. when Boaz asks who Ruth is, the harvest-boss identifies her as the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi ... she has continued [gleaning] from early morning until now (Ruth 2:7)

1) Ruth knows that if they’re going to survive she’s going to have to work hard and trust God

a) that’s still pretty good advise for believers!

2) Ruth does the work of a migrant worker ... it's "grunt work" ... it's back-breaking work as she hunches over hour-after-hour working her way through the fields picking up heads of barley and sometimes even individual grains

b. Ruth fully embraces her new life in a new community among a new people aware that she risked harassment because she was an alien, and worse, a Moabite!

4. Her Demeanor — Ruth politely asks permission to glean in the fields

“Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ ... .”” (Ruth 2:5–7, ESV)

5. the story tells us much about Ruth’s character

II. BOY MEETS GIRL

Ruth 2:8-13

1. before Boaz personally meets and converses with Ruth, we see him gathering information about her

a. it’s later in the afternoon when Boaz came from Bethlehem (vs. 4) to see how the harvesting was going

b. as he arrives he notices a woman who is new; not one of the regular harvesters

2. upon inquiring as to her identity he’s told that “Oh, her. She’s the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi. She may be a Moabite, but I’ll give her this — she’s a hard worker. Except for a short break, she’s been out there gleaning all day.”

a. Boaz is taken with her industry as he learns her story and how she has devoted herself to Naomi and become a believer in the One True God

3. as they meet, Boaz tells her to stay in his field with his servant girls assuring her that it’s safe having instructed the male harvesters to leave her alone

A. THE STORY REVEALS BOAZ’S SPIRITUALITY

1. everything about this book presents Boaz as a man whose faith deeply matters to him

2. We See it in His Graciousness — the way he greets people

a. Boaz talks a lot about the Lord

1) in vs. 4 the first words we hear coming out of Boazs’ mouth are words of gracious benediction, “The LORD be with you!”

2) in vs. 12 he takes initiative to give Ruth a blessing and talk about Lord

a) his speech is filled with references to the God

b) Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

3. We See it in His Generosity — especially in his observance of the law of gleaning

a. in that day the widows and the poor were permitted to come behind the harvesters and glean any grain that had fallen off the barley stalks

“"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:9–10, ESV)

b. in ancient Israel gleanings took three forms

1) 1st was Leqet (lah-ket) which literally means gleanings, and consists of grain dropped while harvesting

2) 2nd was Shikheha, which literally means forgotten produce and referred to entire sheaves inadvertently left behind in the field when the crop is transferred indoor

a) such produce was, as we say, “fair game” for anyone who found it once the harvesters had moved one

3) 3rd was Peah, which literally means corners referring to the corners of a field

a) Jewish law established that at least one-sixtieth of the edges of a farmer’s fields be left unpicked for the indigent

c. this was one of God's safety-nets for the poor

1) it was a reminder that no matter how hard one labored and worried to bring in their harvest, it does not belong wholly to them — God is the Lord of the harvest

2) it was also a reminder that God does not forget the poor, or the alien in the land, but provides for them even though they must labor for what God provides

3) the problem was that this law was largely unenforceable

a) compliance was a matter of personal choice

b) there was no provision for the Israeli Reaper’s Service to sweep through the fields to exercise oversight (no 87,000 armed “gleaning-agents” to watch over your harvesting)

d. it’s God’s Law, but attainable only if internalized by each landowning Israelite of the community, which is why the Leviticus 19:9–10 ends with a resounding reference to God: “I the Lord am your God.”

1) philanthropy springs from faith. God inspires us to reach beyond ourselves 2) Boaz took this responsibility seriously

“When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”” (Ruth 2:15–16, ESV)

3) Boaz is going to make sure that Ruth gleans plenty of grain

4. We See It in His Compassion — Boaz is considerate of Ruth as an alien in the land

a. he recognized her need, and treats her in a kind and unselfish manner even though, as a Moabitess, he doesn’t have to, and even though there’s nothing in it for him

b. he considers her feelings by making sure her needs are met, but not drawing attention to the fact that he was doing it

c. he is acting solely for Ruth’s well-being

5. everything we witness reveals Boaz as a man of godly character

III. BOY FEEDS GIRL

Ruth 2:14-17

1. it’s now late afternoon and the reapers have come in from the fields for the main meal of the day

a. Boaz invites Ruth to come a sit with him and his reapers — probably his servant girls of vs. 8 — and join them for dinner

b. Boaz undoubtedly shocked everyone by serving Ruth himself with roasted grain

1) the gesture is obvious to everyone — Ruth is under his protection

2. the key phrase in this passage is the last line of vs. 14

“And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.” (Ruth 2:14, ESV)

a. when she goes back to gleaning, Boaz makes sure she will glean in abundance (vs. 15-16)

A. THE STORY IS A PICTURE OF GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL CARE ... that always is abundant!

“So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.” (Ruth 2:17–18, ESV)

“And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. ... .” (Ruth 2:22–23, ESV)

ILLUS. The entire harvest would have taken about seven weeks. It allows Ruth to glean enough grain to see the two women through until the fall harvest.

1. none of our English translations are helpful in understanding what is happening in vs 3

a. they all give the impression that it was blind fate that led her to finally be gleaning in a field owned by Boaz

1) most translations read she happened to come to or as it turned out

2) the Hebrew reads her chance chanced upon which is the Hebrew way of saying it wasn’t by chance!

b. by human observation all these events are just by chance — fate has brought these two together ... merely a “happy coincidence” many would say

1) on her very first day of work Ruth “chanced upon” a particular section of the outlying fields of Bethlehem, and then “chanced upon” some property within that section, and then “chanced upon” a field within the property belonging to Boaz who “by chance” was from the same clan as Elimelech

c. by divine observation all these events are supernaturally orchestrated as the rest of the story clearly shows

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33, ESV)

ILLUS. Many, if not most of you, are familiar with the term Deist. You’re familiar with it because you were probably taught that some of our Founding Fathers considered themselves Deists. Deism was a philosophy, especially popular in the 18th century, holding that God had created the universe and its laws but then receded from the action. Sometimes it’s referred to as the Watchmaker anology ... that, like a grand watchmaker, God created this stunningly accurate universe, wound it up, and then set His attention on other things.

Right now, an estimated 5% of Americans consider themselves a Deist, and that number is growing. If accurate, then there are more Deists in America than there are Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or Mormons. I suspect that significantly more Americans are “Deistic” in their thinking than the actual numbers reveal. I think a significant, and growing, number of Americans are convinced that God is “out to lunch” and has not told us when He will be back.

Norton Herbst, is Pastor at New Denver Church, and author of the book, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters. He recently wrote “ ... despite our grand ideas about God, we all live in a world governed by predictable, scientific laws of nature. We’ve never seen an apple fall upward from a tree, or a piece of paper withstand a fire, or time move backward. And though we may use the word “miracle” now and then, hardly any of us can claim to have observed a genuine miraculous event that transcends all scientific law.

So what seems to make the most sense is the idea that God set the world in motion but now just lets it run according to the laws of physics, biology, chemistry, and such. Deism seems to correspond to our everyday human experience. ... many Americans, whether they espouse Christianity or some other religion, are practical Deists in this sense.”

2. the Bible, in general, and the Book of Ruth in particular does not give believers that option

a. God, is a Father who wants His people to flourish, and the Book of Ruth is a reminder that God deeply cares about what happens to His people, and chooses to do most of His work in the quiet, very normal every day events and happenings

IV. APPLICATION

1. this morning’s text is a story of God’s care for those who call on His name — and even those who don’t

a. in it we see that God blesses with abundance

A. GOD BLESSES ALL THROUGH COMMON GRACE

“ ... For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45, ESV)

1. this is God’s common grace — it’s His providential blessing upon those who call Him Father, as well as those who call Him Fiend

a. common grace describes God's indiscriminate kindness to all men, believers and unbelievers, through the abundant and daily blessings of earthly life

ILLUS. We often see headlines in the American media decrying the fact that the U.S. has a higher poverty rate than any other industrialized nation. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren constantly rail against the inequity between the “rich” who “have” and the “poor” who “don’t have”. Are there poor people in America? Yes, but poor compared to whom? Bernie Sanders’ net worth is $3 million. Elizabeth Warren’s net worth is $12 million. Compared to them, most of us would be considered “poor”. Yet, compared to others in our society, many of us would be considered “rich”.

We often forget the supreme blessing of simply being born in America. A groundbreaking study undertaken in 2019, revealed that after an accounting for all income, charity, and non-cash welfare benefits like subsidized housing and food stamps, the poorest 20 percent of Americans consume more goods and services than the national averages for all people in affluent Western countries.

In fact, if the US “poor” could be gathered together as a nation, it would be one of the world’s richest countries.

b. all men — whether they name the name of Christ or not — are the recipients of God’s staggering goodness

“The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” (Psalm 145:9, ESV)

1) common grace includes all undeserved blessings that natural man receives from the hand of God: rain, sun, prosperity, health, happiness, and natural capacities

2) Americans need to count their blessing rather than list their dissatisfaction

3) like Ruth, our response to God’s grace ought to be “Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, ... ?”” (Ruth 2:10, ESV)

4) we should always be awed by grace

2. common grace includes God’s delay of wrath giving lost men throughout the ages an opportunity to respond to His saving grace

a. all men are sinful and spiritually discerned, deserving of God’s wrath the moment they commit their first conscience sin, but He mercifully postpones his destroying wrath

3. common grace includes the mitigation of our sin nature

a. in other words, as much evil as we see take place in the world around us it could be far, far worse if God simply stepped aside allowing all men to commit all the evil that was in their heart

ILLUS. It would be The Purge on steroids. The 2014 Sci-fi thriller is about a future America where the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any where all criminal activity — including murder — becomes legal. It’s referred to simply as the purge. The police can't be called because they won’t respond. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry acts without thought of punishment. It’s a night when men can do anything they want and not face the consequences.

b. that would be life around the globe if it were not for God’s common grace that mitigates our sinful behavior

ILLUS. In his book entitled Common Grace, John Murray writes, “[By His grace, God] prevents depravity from bursting forth in all its vehemence and violence.”

B. GOD BLESSES MANY WITH REDEMPTIVE GRACE

1. there is another grace spoken of in the Scriptures — it’s a grace that Boaz and Ruth both seem to have experienced

a. it’s God’s sovereign saving grace

2. everything about the story of Ruth and Boaz points God’s redemptive love

a. Ruth is the picture of the lost sinner

1) Ruth was a woman who lacked the right pedigree, position, and purity that most people would have expected a man like Boaz to desire

2) she was not Jewish, she was a foreigner ... She was not a virgin, but a widow ... She was not wealthy — in fact, she was less than a servant girl

3) Ruth has nothing to offer Boaz, just as we have nothing to offer God

b. Boaz is the picture of the Christ

1) he notices her, he has compassion on her plight, he chooses to love her wholeheartedly and willfully provided, protected, covered, and ultimately redeemed her

c. this is why God the Father sent His Son into the world

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10, ESV)

d. like Ruth, have you taken refuge under the wings of God?

3. if you know Christ as Savior and Lord, may you exclaim with the Psalmist

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” (Psalm 57:9–11, ESV)

This is a story about God’s gracious care for His creation. Before you ever thought of coming to Christ in faith, God was blessing your life and taking care of you. He was moving and working in your life so that, like Ruth, you might see His goodness, perceive His providential care, begin to seek Him, and ultimately cast your whole life upon the only one who can redeem you — Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, our Redeemer and Lord.

Related Media

Related Sermons