Sermon Tone Analysis

Last time we began our look at the book of Ruth with this idea in mind: It serves as a pageant communicating the incredible wonder of how it is Gentile Believers get grafted into, and become heirs of, the promises of Abraham.

The Apostle Paul unpacks this idea various places like what we just had read for us out of Romans - or this, from

And a great deal of that foreseen blessing of the nations through Abraham - is opened up to us in this little book of Ruth.

Now in Ch. 2, Ruth in the narrative becomes a type of the Gentile Believer in receiving salvation.

And Boaz, who we get introduced to, takes on the cast of the Messiah.

We’ll see how this unfolds much more in Chapters 3 & 4.

As we saw in chapter 1, this wonderful Jewish woman Naomi with her husband and 2 sons had migrated about 50 miles away from their home in Bethlehem to Moab due to a famine.

In the Gentile land of Moab, Naomi’s husband and 2 sons died, leaving her with her 2 widowed daughters-in-law.

And of these 2, Ruth, decides to go back with Naomi to her homeland, town, people and God - and make them her own.

We saw this as a paradigm for conversion.

But it’s only the beginning.

There is much more to come.

Chapter 2 then continues the narrative.

Having arrived back at home, the next order of business was of course to find a means of sustenance.

As the text says, Naomi had a relative, an in-law on her husband’s side, named Boaz.

The ESV says Boaz was a “worthy” man.

The idea being he was noble, respected, a man of integrity.

Interestingly the word translated “worthy” here (used 159 times in the OT) is almost always translated as “warrior”, “hero” or “mighty.”

One commentator said that it conjures up ideas of a noble knight like one of King Arthur’s knights.

Accordingly, one Jewish tradition holds that Boaz was in fact Ibzan, one of the Judges of Israel mentioned in .

Judge?

And perhaps a word of explanation about these “Judges” is in order.

You will recall the 1st vs. of Ruth begins telling us the events of Ruth took place “In the days when the judges ruled.”

In the days when the judges ruled.

Well just who were these judges and what did they do?

They were not what we think of when we think of those who sit on a bench as part of our judicial system handing down legal decisions.

Well just who were these “judges” and what did they do?

They were not what we think of when we think of those who sit on a bench as part of our judicial system handing down legal decisions.

The function of these Judges is given to us in

We do not know exactly how many of these there were in Israel’s history but their function is given to us in

And their function is given to us in

These were valiant men God raised up to lead the nation both in repentance and to break the oppression from other people groups the Israelites suffered when they backslid from their fidelity to God.

The book of Judges names 13 of these - some of whose names would be familiar like Samson, Gideon, Deborah and - Ibzan of Bethlehem.

Whether or not Boaz and Ibzan are one and the same, the language used here of Boaz indicates that same kind of heroic character and reputation in his community.

And it is in his fields that Ruth gleaned in (vs.

3).

Gleaning?

A word about gleaning here is in order as well.

God had instituted a most wonderful sort of welfare system in Israel.

It worked like this: As a chiefly agricultural society, farmers were required by God’s law not harvest every little bit that they could from their crops.

See: .

The idea was this: Society needed to make conscious provision for the poor and unfortunate.

But! that provision also had to preserve the dignity of those in need.

How?

By making sure there was food for them to gather - and then letting them gather it.

We all know that one who subsists on mere handouts soon loses respect both in their own eyes and in the eyes of others.

But if they could work for it in some fashion, they had something to show for their labor.

They could go home that night knowing they had worked, and with the self-respect that comes with having provided for their families honestly.

It was an exceedingly compassionate system which prevented anyone from merely becoming idle: You had to go glean for yourself.

And, it kept the wealthier from failing to show compassion or being too greedy while providing for the necessary food and the dignity of those in need.

So Ruth went to glean for Naomi and herself.

Boaz comes to check on his workers, and notices a new face among the crowd.

When he asks about who she is, the head of the reaper squad fills him in that this is Naomi’s Moabite daughter-in-law, and that she’s been knocking herself out all day out in the fields.

At this point, Boaz approaches Ruth and tells her to be sure to do all her gleaning in his fields only.

That he’ll make sure no one treats her poorly because she’s a foreigner - and that she can get water like anyone else.

That she’s to consider herself no less a part of the rest who are out there.

Ruth responds:

Why have you taken such careful notice of one who really doesn’t belong?

Boaz replies:

And Ruth says:

She is more than gratified at his kindness.

And she calls it for what it is.

She does not think herself in any way deserving of such care and attention.

She has no sense of entitlement.

Not even on account of her connection to Naomi.

In fact she uses an unusual word here for servant - it is a diminutive meaning she is the very lowest of servants.

But Boaz isn’t done yet.

Boaz hasn’t just taken notice of Ruth, he now goes out of his way to bless her:

He invites her to eat with him...

He invites her to dip her morsel in the wine - so she is not just taking a break, she is joining the meal like one of the closest associates...

She doesn’t just eat, she eats until she is satisfied with leftovers...

So is brought right in among the group

And then she went back to work.

She didn’t consider her new found favor as any kind of exemption from labor...

And Boaz makes even more provision for her - not just to glean from what isn’t reaped, but to have unfettered access to the crop.

Ruth returns to Naomi with more than 30 pounds of barely which would not only be a huge provision for them - but left them with an amount to sell and produce some income.

Naomi is pretty savvy.

She knows full well that Ruth has come home with an inordinate haul for the day.

And so she probes.

Once it’s revealed that Boaz is behind it all, Naomi finally catches a glimpse of God’s hand at work after all.

Then she recollects that Boaz is one of those in her husband’s family who would have first rights to purchase the land and give them some real relief.

So she tells Ruth to continue to take advantage of Boaz’s good graces.

As last time, let’s just reflect on these events by making some pertinent observations - but especially in light of what I mentioned earlier - how this book becomes a pageant of sorts explicating the grace of God in extending salvation to Gentile believers.

It was a saying by among the Puritans that the OT was the illustration book for the doctrines of the NT and Ruth is a spectacular example of that very concept.

But for today I want us to consider just 2 outstanding things opened up for us in this chapter: The Providence of God, and the Provision of God.

And we need to see each of these in two respects: God’s providence in both natural and spiritual things, as well as God’s provision in both natural and spiritual things.

What a great God we serve.

Observation 1: God's Providence.

Much like the book of Esther, God is not front and center in Ruth.

But His pervasive behind-the-scenes activity is.

And this is such an important reality for Christians to grasp in every generation and in all of our circumstances.

We may not SEE God at work overtly, but He is there and behind all things concerning us.

This is what is known theologically as God’s “Providence.”

Providence is normally defined in Christian theology as the unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill ( cf. ), he upholds his creatures in ordered existence (; ; ), guides and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men (cf.

; ; ; ), and directs everything to its appointed goal, for his own glory (cf.

).

J. I. Packer, “Providence,” ed.

D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 979.

So it is we can see first how God’s providences Ruth led to producing King David from the mixed Jewish/Gentile bloodline.

J. I. Packer, “Providence,” ed.

D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 979.

We can only go back a tiny bit here but just look at some of the key events.