Sermon Tone Analysis

Have you ever been bitter about anything?

I have.

And this little guy expresses the nature of tasting something bitter really well.

That’s how it can be in the soul as too.

We recoil.

We try to spit it out.

We want relief.

Because the very nature of true bitterness is that there is nothing sweet in it.

It is devoid of anything pleasurable.

And while the old adage that time heals all wounds is demonstrably false, what can happen in time, is that the immediate sting of something bitter, the initial shock and impact can begin to fade.

Especially if we don’t foster it.

If, IF, we don’t keep going back for another bite.

And then, there is something even more: How bitterness cannot just fade, but be actively overcome.

And we’re about to see how that reality worked in the life of Naomi - and how we too might find something of great spiritual benefit to our own souls in the further unfolding of this narrative.

If you’ve not been with us, we have been exploring this little Old Testament book of Ruth - where a Jewish family of 4 migrated to a nearby land to wait out a famine.

But during that time, the head of the family, Elimelech, died leaving his widow - Naomi with her 2 sons.

In time, these 2 boys married young ladies from this foreign land, and they too died - leaving Naomi not only a widow, but bereft of her 2 sons as well.

Naomi decides to go back home to Bethlehem, and her 2 daughters-in-law attempt to go with her.

Upon discussion, the 1 returns to her home, but the other - Ruth, will not abandon her mother-in-law and returns to Bethlehem with her.

And as we heard from Naomi’s own lips when she saw her old friends and neighbors:

She is bitter.

Understandably so.

And yet as we have seen, at least some of her bitterness is due to some wrong assumptions about God.

This is why bitterness is all she has in the midst of her genuine sorrows.

When the goodness of God is blocked from view, by ourselves OR others - bitterness is all that remains.

Wrong views of God will inevitably take their toll on our souls.

Right views of God are crucial to our spiritual health.

And it is when bitterness is all we can see, when we have miscast or misunderstood God, that anguish and hopelessness add all the more to our bitter lot.

Worse, we cannot or will not even go to Him in our distress, because - as Naomi did - we blame Him FOR our distress as a wrong done to us.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

But by God’s grace, that is about to change.

Our account has moved along at a pretty good clip.

As best as we can tell from the text, from the time Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem, to the end of the wheat harvest - was just about 3 or 4 months.

(see: 2:23)

And it is at this point that Naomi begins to emerge from her fog of grief and disappointment.

Naomi is finally beginning to think beyond her own pain, and comes up with a plan for the future - at least for her beloved and devoted daughter-in-law.

On the face of it, this might seem pretty sketchy to us, but in that time and culture, the plan made sense.

While some conjecture this reference to uncovering Boaz's feet has sexual overtones, the more I’ve studied it, the more I am inclined to agree with most commentators who see it simply as a way of making him gently uncomfortable so that he takes notice.

Ruth

Ruth's virtue is already a celebrated fact.

Boaz himself will speak to that.

But the simple fact is, in the cool air of the night, uncovered feet would warrant attention.

And it did - as we see next.

And when else might she be able to get Boaz alone to do what she is about to?

This is a good plan.

And it is at that moment that Ruth says something odd to our ears, but perfectly sensible to theirs:

That last sentence is helpfully rendered more fully in the NET.

NET:

NET - “I am Ruth, your servant.

Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests.”

I’ll explain what legal mechanism is at work here next time - but the root issue is plain - she’s proposing to him!

Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible.

English.

NET Bible.;

The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), .

I’ll explain what legal mechanism is at work here next time - but the root issue is plain - she’s proposing to him!

And Boaz, for all his late night foggieness doesn’t skip a beat:

Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.

In these past months you have demonstrated what a worthy woman you are.

And his answer tells us more.

He admires the fact that she didn’t just seek out someone to meet her own needs and make her happy or someone superficially attractive - she has approached him because she knows the impact it will have on Naomi especially.

Yes, there is romance here that has been building all along, but there is far more than romance afoot.

But, he explains - there’s a complication.

I can do this, but someone has some rights in this matter that need to be dealt with.

But getting that out of the way - I’ll follow through.

So he tells her to stay there until morning.

At his feet.

The propriety of it all remains intact.

So, getting up before anyone has a chance to misconstrue anything, she heads back to Naomi - this time with 60 lbs. of barley - a hefty demonstration of his being more than willing.

It is months worth of provision.

He is making sure she is well provided for even before he can do it officially.

The way we saw last time how Christ provides for us even before we are His.

Once home she and Naomi talk it out.

Naomi takes note of Boaz’s response and assures Ruth he won’t let this matter go until he settles it post haste.

And so they wait to see what the new day will bring.

OBSERVATIONS

Now what are we to make of all these developments?

And how in the world do we make any reasonable application of all this to the Gospel and to ourselves?

Once again, let me just make a series of observations.

For there is much here, and that, on several very different fronts.

Let’s go back first to examine the issue of bitterness that has played such a role in this story from the beginning.

I really need to develop this first one more than the rest.

Let’s go back first to examine the issue of bitterness that has played such a role in this story from the beginning.

Observation 1: For the Christian, bitterness is an enemy to be combatted, not an unchangeable condition to be accommodated.

Yes, in time, bitterness begins to fade and Naomi's thoughts turn from her own misery to seeking blessing for Ruth.

This is the natural progression for most who are spiritually healthy.

But there is more going on here.

Of all of the enemies Believers have in spiritual growth, none is as dangerous as the self-pity which then gives way to bitterness.

As the writer to the Hebrews reminds us:  

When we lose the sense of God’s grace, that we are favored by Him because of Christ - a root of bitterness can spring up and cause trouble - and not just for us - it defiles many others in the process.

It impacts those we come into contact with.

It does so because at the bottom of it is our judging God to have dealt with us unfairly, wrongly, or even sinfully.

Bitterness, is the human heart accusing God.

And when we have gotten things so upside down that we imagine God has to answer to us for wrongs done or permitted by Him - we have no place to go.

For now, standing in judgment upon God, WE have become god to ourselves.

Our conception of justice, fair-play and wisdom is the standard by which we judge all things - even Him.

This is what makes bitterness such a pernicious and dangerous evil.

Yes, Naomi had been bitter.

But you see here how she begins to deal with her own bitterness: By seeking to minister to another.

She finally starts to take the focus off of herself and her misery, and begins to investigate how she can bless her Daughter-in-law.