We Must Live in Hope

The Book of Ruth  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  35:21
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How do you respond to life's difficult times? Do you worry, fret or become bitter? How much difference would it make in our lives if we lived in hope? Listen as Pastor Leger unpacks verses 17-23 of Ruth chapter 2.

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We Must Live in Hope

All day long, Ruth labored with a happy and hopeful heart. She didn’t have to worry about the men harassing her or the other workers hindering her. She had food when she was hungry, drink when she was thirsty, and a place of rest when she became weary. The grain she gleaned amounted to about half a bushel, about 30 pounds, enough food for the two women for nearly a week. She also had some food left over from her lunch (v. 18). Ruth was not only a diligent worker, but she was also careful not to waste anything God had given her.
How will Naomi respond to Ruth’s experiences? The last time we met Naomi, she was sharing her bitterness with the women of Bethlehem and blaming God for her sorrow and poverty. When Ruth had asked permission to go to the fields to glean, all Naomi said to her was “Go, my daughter” (v. 2). She gave her daughter-in-law no word of encouragement, not even the promise of her prayers.
But now let’s hear what Naomi has to say...
Ruth 2:17–23 NKJV
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” 21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.
Ruth’s return home to Naomi ended Naomi’s emptiness and filled the older woman with anticipation, thankfulness, and hope.
Now we hear a new word from Naomi’s lips—“Blessed!” (vv. 19–20) She not only blessed Ruth’s benefactor, but she also blessed the Lord! We have moved from bitterness to blessedness. When Naomi saw the grain, she blessed the man who allowed Ruth to work in his field; and when she heard that the man was Boaz, Naomi blessed the Lord. What a change has taken place in the heart of this grieving widow! This change came about because of the new hope she had in her heart, and the one who gave her that new hope was Boaz.
Let’s see why Naomi had hope...

Naomi Had Hope Because of Who Boaz Was (19-20)

Ruth 2:19–20 NKJV
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”
Naomi had hope because of who Boaz was—a near kinsman who was wealthy and influential.
Naomi’s mind immediately perceived the significance of the situation. Even the dead might soon be blessed, in that the name of Elimelech, her dead husband, could live on through her faithful daughter-in-law, Ruth. Boaz was a close relative, but more than that, he was a kinsman-redeemer. He could act as a redeemer of property and persons. He could act as a levir, a Latin term for brother-in-law. Boaz could redeem by fulfilling the levirate law, which required a brother of a deceased man to marry his widow and raise up a son to his name (Deut. 25:5–10). Though Boaz was not a brother to Mahlon, Ruth’s deceased husband (Ruth 4:10), he was a close relative to the family and could act as a levir if he so desired. Naomi sensed the willingness of Boaz. No explanation is given as to why Naomi did not mention the nearer kinsman-redeemer (cf. 3:12).
As we shall see, a near kinsman could rescue relatives from poverty and give them a new beginning (Lev. 25:25–34).
Leviticus 25:25–34 NKJV
25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26 Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28 But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. 29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30 But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32 Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
We also have a redeemer. Jesus Christ. And because of Him we have hope.
Naomi also had hope because...

Naomi Had Hope Because of What Boaz Did

She also had hope because of what Boaz did: He showed kindness to Ruth and took a personal interest in her situation. When Ruth shared with Naomi what Boaz had said, Naomi’s hope grew even stronger because the words of Boaz revealed his love for Ruth and his desire to make her happy. That Boaz insisted on Ruth staying close to his servants and in his field was proof to Naomi that her husband’s relative was making plans that included her and her daughter-in-law.
Should not we who believe in Jesus Christ rejoice in hope? When you consider who He is, what He has done for us, and what He says to us in His Word, there is no reason for us to feel hopeless. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He has died for us, and now He intercedes for us in heaven. In His Word, He has given us “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4, KJV) that can never fail. No matter how you may feel today, no matter how difficult your circumstances may be, you can rejoice in hope if you will focus your faith on Jesus Christ.
The American agnostic lecturer Robert G. Ingersoll called hope “the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.” But the late Norman Cousins, former editor of The Saturday Review, who miraculously survived an almost incurable illness and a severe heart attack, unequivocally disagrees with Ingersoll. “The human body experiences a powerful gravitational pull in the direction of hope,” Cousins wrote. “That’s why the patient’s hopes are the physician’s secret weapon. They are the hidden ingredients in any prescription.” In his work with patients at the UCLA School of Medicine, Cousins proved the power of hope to change people’s lives.
For the Christian believer, hope is not a shallow “hope-so feeling” generated by optimistic fantasies. Hope is an inner sense of joyful assurance and confidence as we trust God’s promises and face the future with His help. This hope is God’s gift to His children through the Holy Spirit, who reminds us of God’s promises found in His Word (Rom. 15:13).

We Can Have Hope Because of What Jesus Did

Ruth’s half bushel of grain was the “firstfruits” of all that Boaz would do in the future, just as the Holy Spirit within us is the “firstfruits” of all that God has promised us (8:23). Although Ruth’s supply of grain would be gone in a week, the witness of the Spirit within will remain until our hopes are all fulfilled when we see Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:23 NKJV
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
The exciting new hope that now possessed the two widows was centered in a person, Boaz, just as our hope is centered in the Son of God. In fact, Jesus Christ is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1; 1 Thes. 1:3; Col. 1:27). Through faith in Christ, we have been born again into “a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3); and because it is a living hope, it grows stronger each day and produces fruit. The hopes that the world clings to are dead hopes, but ours is a living hope because it is rooted in the living Christ.
Naomi cautioned Ruth to obey the commands of Boaz and stay close to his servants as she gleaned in the field. The barley harvest occurred during March and April, and the wheat harvest during June and July. Meanwhile, Ruth kept busy and gathered food sufficient for herself and her mother-in-law. But now she was laboring motivated by a wonderful hope: She was joyfully anticipating the day of redemption! (See Rom. 8:23 and Eph. 4:30.)
It is encouraging to see the changes that have taken place in Naomi because of what Ruth did. God used Ruth to turn Naomi’s bitterness into gratitude, her unbelief into faith, and her despair into hope. One person, trusting the Lord and obeying His will, can change a situation from defeat to victory.
Ruth’s faith in God’s Word led her to the field of Boaz. The love of Boaz for Ruth compelled him to pour out his grace upon her and meet her every need. (Grace is love that pays the price to help the undeserving one.) Ruth’s experience of grace gave her new hope as she anticipated what her kinsman redeemer would do.
“And now abide faith, hope, love” (1 Cor. 13:13), and they still abide with us as we abide in Jesus Christ and trust in Him.
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