Ruth: Till We Have Faces
Notes
Transcript
Threshing floor
What and how
A threshing floor is a smooth, flat surface that was used in the process of harvesting grain. Before there was machinery, farmers used a threshing floor to separate the grain from the chaff. The harvested produce would be spread over the threshing floor and then animals (cattle or oxen) would be led over it, to crush and break the sheaves apart with their hooves. At times, people used sticks to beat the sheaves apart (Ruth 2:17; Isaiah 28:27). The grain would be separated from the husks, or chaff (Deuteronomy 25:4; Isaiah 28:28) and then tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the chaff away, leaving only the good, edible grain. This was called "winnowing."
Symbolic of the separation of evil from good. The good is what is left over.
The threshing floor is symbolic of judgment in the Bible. Old Testament prophet Hosea prophesied that Israel would be "like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window" (Hosea 13:3). Of the nations who will come against God during the end times, the prophet Micah says "they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor." The idea is that Israel will demolish their enemies like oxen trampling grain on the threshing floor" (Micah 4:11-13). Chaff is referred to in the Psalms as a symbol of the destruction of the wicked (Psalm 1:4). Also, John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the one who would separate the good grain from the chaff with a winnowing fork, gathering the grain into his barn and burning the chaff with "unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12). This is a symbol of heaven and hell.
Ruth a foreigner to the family of God is shown to be righteous before the eyes of God. Not because of her works or genealogy but because of her faith in God.
Ruth sought refuge under God’s wing before she sought it in Boaz.
Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. “May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”
He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.”
Ruth’s intentions that night at the threshing floor were not inappropriate. She makes her intentions clear, “Please redeem my family”.
She doesn’t come to tempt, she isn’t being promiscuous. Her motives are unquestionable. The bible calls this being above reproach. The Bible says that all of us should strive to live in a way that puts us above reproach or the expression of disapproval or disappointment.
He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.”
Ruth was a woman of noble character just as Boaz was a man of noble character. Their character was held in high regard not just amongst themselves but the whole town saw them that way. The way you life your life is a reflection of who God is in your life. If your classmates were to see how you live would it bring honor to God. God doesn’t only see on the outside but on the inside too. Does what you think about or do in private bring glory to God?
v.13 Boaz proves himself to be a man of noble character again. He did not get ahead of the process but was patient. He didn’t give into fleshly temptations but told her to stay where she was. He keeps his promises. He does not use his wealth or power to take advantage despite the world around him telling him to do what is right in the eyes of man.
v. 14 He was concerned not only with her safety but also with what people thought of her.
v. 15He continues to be generous.
v. 18 He is quick to fulfill his promises.
Do you want what Ruth and Boaz had?
Glorify God with your body
You do not belong to yourself. God has purchased you for Himself by the blood of Jesus. You are not entitled to anything. Any rights you have you surrender to God so that He might use you however He likes. We’re talking about big picture Christianity. Authentic Christianity. Not cultural Christianity. There’s a huge difference. You can go your whole life and never understand what it truly means to follow Jesus. You can go to church every Sunday, tithe, do the lord’s supper, and completely miss the magnitude of what Jesus did on the cross. He has freed you from your sin and called you into a life of Holiness. Jesus isn’t our get out of hell free card. When He calls us, He calls us into radical life transformation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the quote he lived to the end.
“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Trust God
It is easy for us to make an idol out of dating. Marriage is a gift from God but when we emphasize the gift over the giver of the gift it becomes idolatry. We become focused with what we don’t have that we miss out on the gift and blessing that is singleness. When we trust God with our singleness He often uses us in extraordinary ways. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7 that in many ways it is better to be single than to be married because it frees us up to serve God undistracted. Married people spend a lot of their time trying to make their spouse happy. Single people don’t have to worry about that. Instead they can focus more clearly on how to make God happy. Plus God is the one who brings people together.
“But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
If God isn’t in the center than He’s not in it at all.
Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Listen to your parents/Date with an adult
Listen to your parents. You may think you know more than they do but remember they were just like you. Plus, they’re responsible for your safety not just physically but spiritually as well. If they say no the answers no. God doesn’t bless rebellious relationships. Relationship founded on secrets and deception rarely leave their foundation.
If I had listened to the adults around me I could have saved myself a lot of emotional hurt. I could have also protected my purity by humbling myself, understanding that purity is a hard battle to fight alone, and denying myself what I really wanted, which often times was to get the other person alone so we could be physical. Dating in public is a valuable thing that we often lie to ourselves and say is bad.
Date for marriage
The only reason we should date someone is because we could see a future with them. We shouldn’t date recreationally. It isn’t a hobby we should pick up. We should date knowing that someday we might marry this person. Dating for marriage shifts our focus from how we feel now, from the sinful cravings we have now and shifts them to something greater, something that lasts.
Date other Christians/Do not missionary date
Paul says in first Corinthians not to be unequally yoked.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.
Ruth wasn’t motivated by looks or wealth. Above all she was motivated by his heart. The best relationships aren’t built on temporary things. Lasting, meaningful relationships are built on eternal things. You should find a person’s relationship with God to be the most attractive thing about them. This is why it is so hard to date as a young person. It’s almost impossible because you are still trying to form your relationship with Christ for yourself.
Jim Elliot “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Set yourself up for success
90% of your problems are caused by your situation. Our sin is convenient. We put ourselves in a position that makes saying no almost impossible. Here’s the problem: We love our sin. Overcoming our sin is possible through the blood of Jesus. He has made a way but it also requires effort. Grace changes our heart but hard work, commitment, and accountability help us see it through to the end.
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
What would it look like if you denied yourself? What are some ways you need to do this? What does it mean to carry your cross?
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
Have a right view of sex and marriage
Odysseus and the Sirens v. Jason and the Argonauts
One wanted to listen, to get as close as he could the other sang a better song.
It’s never to late to be noble
We all make mistakes. We all cross the lines that we set for ourselves. We all fail. I’ve had seasons in my life where I felt like I had gone too far and God could never love me. He could never forgive me. But the Bible says that’s not true. The bible says it doesn’t matter what I’ve done because of Jesus, I can be forgiven.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
My dad used to say, “it’s never too late to live with integrity.”
What is integrity?
Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
It isn’t something that comes naturally to us but it is a blessing from God. Having integrity is healing to our souls.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.