“The Redemption of God”
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION.
Boaz = “in him is strength”
MESSAGE.
1. The PROVIDENTIAL hand of God at work.
1. The PROVIDENTIAL hand of God at work.
A. Ruth had a Need.
A. Ruth had a Need.
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
Needed Food for life. poor, widow, and an foreigner
the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy gives the law that instructs land owners to allow the poor, widows and stranger to glen behind their works.
B. God Directed Ruth to where she needed to be.
B. God Directed Ruth to where she needed to be.
3 So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
“Happened”
on the first day Ruth “happens” upon this section of land.
Ruth “happens” upon the this plot.
Ruth “happens” upon the field belonging to Boaz a family member.
God’s providential working.
C. God Sent Boaz to where He needed him at the right time.
C. God Sent Boaz to where He needed him at the right time.
4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”
“behold”
NIV - “just then”
Boaz happened “just then” comes from town.
Boaz happened “just then” sees Ruth.
God’s providential timing.
Extra about Ruth:
Ruth was a polite women.
“Please let me go” Ruth 2:2
“Please let me glean” Ruth 2:7
Ruth was a had worker.
“has remained from the morning until now” Ruth 2:7
2. The GRACE of God at Work.
2. The GRACE of God at Work.
A. The reception.
A. The reception.
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids.
B. Boaz offers physical protection.
B. Boaz offers physical protection.
9 “Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”
C. Boaz offers Provisions of Water.
C. Boaz offers Provisions of Water.
9 “Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.”
D. The answer to Boaz’s Grace.
D. The answer to Boaz’s Grace.
11 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.
Ruth left everything.
father and mother.
land, home, family, and friends (her land)
She came to people and place she did not know.
E. The Redemption.
E. The Redemption.
12 “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.”
Ruth sought refuge / Boaz supplying that refuge.
Ruth’s soul restored.
13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
“Comforted me”:
- to alleviate sorrow - give emotional strength.
removed the heavy weight.
allow someone to breath deeply again.
III. The INVITATION of Boaz.
III. The INVITATION of Boaz.
A. Boaz invites Ruth and lunch to come and dine with him.
A. Boaz invites Ruth and lunch to come and dine with him.
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.”…
B. Boaz served Ruth personally out of his own.
B. Boaz served Ruth personally out of his own.
14 … So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.
Boaz satisfied Ruth’s hunger (need) plus some.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
C. Boaz made sure that Ruth was taken care of.
C. Boaz made sure that Ruth was taken care of.
16 “Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”
This went beyond the natural provision provided for in the Law.
Extra about
Ruth’s gleaning.
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
ephah = about 4 to 6 gallons.
enough to feed to feed 50 fighting men.
There would be enough for Ruth and Naomi for several weeks.
IV. Ruth SHARES the Good NEWS.
IV. Ruth SHARES the Good NEWS.
A. Ruth shared with Naomi the overflow of her grace.
A. Ruth shared with Naomi the overflow of her grace.
18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.
B. The restoration of Naomi’s hope.
B. The restoration of Naomi’s hope.
20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives.”
We see a turn in Naomi:
from bitter to blessing.
Naomi’s eyes opened to the providential work of God that has been there all along.
From focused on self to focused on the works of God.
“Closest relative” - kinsman redeemer.
go’el = to save or redeem.
C. The invitation to join in the work with the servants.
C. The invitation to join in the work with the servants.
21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
The harvest is plentiful.
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
CONCLUSION.
Till the End.
Till the End.
23 So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Barley Harvest and Wheat Harvest.
Barley and Wheat where the 2 staple grains.
Both the barley and wheat harvest would last about 7 weeks total.
Culminating in:
The feast of weeks
the feast of Harvest
The feast of Pentecost.
This is 1 of 3 feast that was celebrated in the central sanctuary.
Every male Israelite was required to come.
RESPONSE:
God knows our need is at work providentially in our lives to meet those needs.
just as Ruth was active, hard working, and persevered.
We too much be that way.
Not expecting a hand out.
God GRACE is sufficient and more than we need.
God invites us to come a dine with Him.
We should take our overflow and go share it with a world in need.
