Part 5: The Provisions of Grace
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in our study on the Book of Ruth and I’m glad we are able to dive back into it tonight. Last time we looked at this series, we were in part 4 in conclusion of chapter 1, when things begin to look up for Naomi and Ruth.
When you come to chapter 2, we find that Naomi begins to move out of the picture, and the focus turns to Ruth...Notice a few things quickly with me:
In Chapter 1, she sinned, but in Chapter 2, she served.
In Chapter 1, we have the scene of failure, but in Chapter 2, we have a scene in the field.
In Chapter 1, we see Ruth’s regeneration, and in Chapter 2, we see Ruth’s reaping.
Look at the desire of Ruth in verse 2...
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Let me go...
Let me glean...
Let me find grace...
You know, Ruth is a new convert right here, and this should be the same desire of every single child of God!
We ought to have a desire to go! You can’t spell Gospel without Go!
We ought to have a desire to glean in the Word of God!
We ought to have a desire to find favor or grace in the sight of our Lord! Ruth was seeking smiles and blessings of Him Who alone is able to bestow.
There are three things I want to look at tonight out of these three beginning verses of chapter 2:
A Mighty Man
A Mighty Man
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
This verse is so spectacular! This verse is merely informing us that Naomi, who was now widowed, had a near kinsman, or relative, of her husband.
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.
The near kinsman would have been able to redeem all that had been lost or all that had been signed away in some sort of deal…The near kinsman is merely introduced in the beginning of this story, but we will find that as the story picks up it’s pace, he quickly becomes the main character!
The kinsman redeemer would have to be three things:
Worthy.
Willing.
Wealthy.
I can’t move on without saying that Boaz is a picture and a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it can be said of you and of I that we have a Kinsman also, one who was made like we are, yet sinless—“holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). He is the one who is able to save us to the uttermost.
If you remember, in our Introduction message, the name Boaz means “strength” and what a contrast he was to Ruth’s first husband, who was Mahlon…You know what his name meant? “weakness”...
Boaz was a mighty man of wealth the Bible says here. And in studying this word “mighty” in the Hebrew, it can be looked at also as “a mighty man of war.” And it could be said that he was a “mighty man of Law” also. All three were true of Boaz. He’s a mighty man of war; he’s a mighty man of wealth; and he is a mighty man of the Law. What’s the Law? Scriptures; my friend, I’d say he was a mighty man indeed...
A Moabitish Maiden
A Moabitish Maiden
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Look at this…Naomi is an older widow, so we find her daughter-in-law, Ruth, is going to go and glean some grain in someone’s fields. Ruth is a poor widow herself and she’s in a strange land, among strange people, but she’s going to call upon some unknown person’s grace!
Naomi and Ruth had come home empty, we looked at that last time...
I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
But look here, they had come to the right place, (The House of Bread), and they had come at the right time, (Harvest Time).
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 years in Moab would have emptied anyone! The life there takes and takes until there’s no more to take, and leaves you empty…But as we are about to see, that’s not the end!
Before God saves he slays. Before he exalts he abases. Before he heals he wounds. He never lifts sinners up until he brings them down. Why does He do this? Because a sinner must see their need of a Savior!
An old preacher once said, “you can’t get saved, until you get lost!”
Ruth realizes her limitations as a Gentile and in verse 2, she’s reminded that she is a Moabitess…
Ruth had resolved that she would be found among the children of God. She would not go back to Moab. But if she lived in Bethlehem, she would have to do so as a poor beggar living upon the grace of another.
I think it’s interesting that the word Moabitess is found 5 times in the book of Ruth - That’s the number of grace in the Bible!
Ya’ll remember David right? When he went to battle Goliath? He took five stones from the brook and his sling as a weapon. Some people say, “But he only needed one stone to slay that giant.” That’s true! There were four stones left to show us that there is always grace left to help us for the next time of need!
Grace chose Ruth. Grace created a need. Grace met her need. That is always God’s method of grace.
Thank God for grace!
Look at Ruth right here...
Poor
Stranger
Fatherless
Widow
Aren’t you thankful tonight that God doesn’t care about your status in life? Where you are in life does not determine whether you get in the field of grace or not!
The field of grace for whosoever
A Marvelous Moment
A Marvelous Moment
And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Let me introduce you to a little word called providence. It means the foreseeing care and guidance of God. A manifest of divine care or direction.
Notice that word “hap” in verse 3…It means one’s luck or lot, an occurrence or happening. The dictionary says luck, but luck had nothing to do with it, it was the Diving providence of an Almighty God!
When we attend our duties and do what we are supposed to do, providence will attend us!
Ruth was following directions…Look at this:
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
Ruth was in the right place…She was willing to go into the field and work at Harvest Time! She was right where she belonged and God was in control!
Ruth had not planned it. In so far as she was concerned, this was purely accidental. But while she was there doing what she was supposed to do where she was supposed to be “her hap” was by the arrangement of providence. “Her hap” determined her marriage to Boaz, her wealth, her everlasting happiness, and her position in the genealogy of Christ. “Her hap” also brought about the incarnation of her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.! The Son of God must come into the world as a descendent of Boaz and Ruth. God purposed it from eternity. Yet, Boaz and Ruth would never have wed had she not gleaned in his field. This was no accident. “Her hap” was God’s purpose.
Divine providence isn’t for everyone ya’ll!
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In closing tonight, I have three questions for you:
1. Are you saved, not a church member, not a good person, but truly born again?
2. If you are saved, can you honestly say that you are growing in the Lord as you should be? It is God’s command and desire that we grow...
3. Are you hungry for something in your spiritual life that you do not have right now? If so, it is available from the Lord. God has what each of you is looking for if you will come to Him and get it.