Part 7: Handfuls On Purpose
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It’s been a little while since we have been in the book of Ruth, but last time, we looked at the thought of “Love at First Sight in the Field of Grace” out of chapter 2 verses 4-14.
Tonight, we will look at the next couple verses here in chapter 2 as we look at the thought of “Handfuls On Purpose”
We left off last time with Ruth and Boaz falling in love, and her moving from the field to the table, so tonight, we pick up at what happens after you move from the field to the table.
Let’s read:
And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
Have you ever noticed that our Heavenly Father is extravagant in His grace? He often gives us far more than we have asked for and He certainly gives us more than we could have ever deserved! He has shown us mercy... provided us with grace... and secured our salvation. He loves us with unconditional love, He has adopted us into His family, He is our Father and we are His children. He has promised us a Heavenly home and assured us that we will dwell with Him forever.
We could never have asked for any of these things, and there is no way that we would ever be able to deserve the blessings God has bestowed upon us. But because of His love for us He has blessed us immensely!
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
God has truly given us more blessings than we could ask for. In the book of Ruth we see multiple occasions where Boaz lavished Ruth with many great blessings.
One such place is the passage we are in tonight...
Now, we know from our past studies that Ruth had started out as a nobody in the land of Moab; she was recognized as a Gentile dog, but ends up at the table of grace!
She reminds us of Mephibosheth, who came from the land of Lodebar - which meant “the land of no bread.”
And that’s the way we were, brought from nothing, to sit at the table of everything!
Here in our text, we have now gone from emptiness to enjoyment!
I mentioned that this was going to happen in the last message, but now we see it; The focus of this book has gone from Naomi's unbelief, rebellion, and bitterness to Ruth's faith, submission, and gratitude. When Naomi left 106 Bethlehem, she left full but returned empty. She had an empty home (dead husband and sons), empty hands (poverty stricken), and an empty heart (bitter against God).
Naomi pictured the empty life.
Ruth on the other hand pictured the satisfied life.
She was spiritually rich because of her faith, submission, and gratitude which led to her satisfaction. God had a wonderful plan for Ruth. Through Ruth, Naomi would be changed. The Lord had turned bitterness to blessing, emptiness to elation, and hopelessness to hope. He begins to put Naomi's and Ruth's lives back together again, giving them family, food, and faith.
In verses 15 & 16…We see:
The Gracious Hand of the Lord
The Gracious Hand of the Lord
Ruth was learning a profound lesson about the marvelous grace of the Lord. Even though she wasn’t aware of it, God was working on her behalf…His gracious hand was evident in her life.
Notice...
A Work of Providence
A Work of Providence
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
If you remember from past studies, God had made provision for strangers to be allowed to glean among the corners of the field, reaping the leftovers of the harvest, but here we find Boaz commanding that Ruth be allowed to glean even among the sheaves which had already been harvested. In one way, he was saying, “Let her reap wherever she wants to.”
You notice here that if we’ll rise and go into the fields to glean, we’ll find that while we are busy gleaning, our heavenly Boaz, Jesus, will be busy commanding...
I want you to understand something here…This was Divine privilege.
Boaz hadn’t forgotten that Ruth had accepted the invitation he gave her back in verse 14 - “At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar.” - Her love for Boaz had been expressed in the acceptance of the invitation, but now her love is to be rewarded!
Are ya’ll getting this??
He so appreciated her fellowship and communion that he’s going to reward her for the time spent at the table with him...
Let me put it this way - Time spent with Jesus Christ is always rewarded, never wasted!
Ruth here gained more for a short time spent in fellowship and communion with Boaz than she would have if she had toiled for days in the field!
You want to know why so many people today are walking around that seem to have so many unsuccessful days? It’s because they are neglecting time with Jesus Christ! They neglect prayer, they neglect their Bible, they neglect family worship, they are doing things in their own strength, their own human ability, and their own intelligence...
Before moving on, I want to mention something about gleaning…gleaning was work.
It was a privilege that Boaz had allowed Ruth to glen among the sheaves, but this was a humble work.
It required stooping.
In order to be a gleaner in the field of truth and to gain understanding of God’s Word, a person must often stoop in prayer, and humiliation.
Gleaning also meant toiling. The reason we have so many shallow and unlearned Christians today is because they aren’t willing to take time to dig into the Word of God to get the food their souls require!
Notice with me,
A Work of Purpose
A Work of Purpose
And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
Boaz wasn’t just content to let Ruth simply glean where she desired - now that would have been blessing enough, but he commanded that they let handfuls of purpose fall for her so that she might gain what she needed with ease!
Usually gleaning is a slow process, but occasionally, just like Ruth, we receive a handful on purpose!
Oftentimes, we have weeks that are full of testing and trials, and we come to the house of God with a depressed or discouraged spirit…
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the preacher gives just that which the soul needs; the spirt of the wary one is refreshed because they received a handful on purpose for their troubled soul through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Who understands our needs.
This is one of the many reasons we need the church! I had this happen just this week…When I was studying, I’ll share this with you quickly: I had some things on my mind, troubling me, and I was studying a particular passage, and I got to one certain spot, and made a particular note, and that note was such an encouragement to the very thing that I had been discouraged about, and what’s amazing is, right after that point, that message fell flat as a pancake, and God put me in a different direction entirely!
He sent me a handful on purpose, just to get me to where I needed to be to study the right message!
Just when our faith has been stretched to the limit and trials have ‘bout beat us to death, God will drop a big handful on purpose just to lift us to higher ground!
After Peter denied the Lord and lied and cursed to the young woman , a special message was sent to him...
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
…and Peter…THAT WAS A HANDFUL ON PURPOSE!
It was a Handful of restoration purpose!
What about Paul? When he was buffeted by the messenger of Satan...
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
He entreated the Lord on three occasions to be delivered from this condition, but instead of having the thorn removed, God give him a handful of recognition purpose! when the Lord told him:
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
How many of ya’ll have been given handfuls on purpose just in the time of need?
Let me give you another example...
Think about the Apostle John, while on the Isle of Patmos; banished from home, banished from Christian fellowship, banished from everything that was dear to him; at least from an earthly standpoint.
But Christ doesn’t forget His own! In that time, He received the wonderful Book of Revelation, which has been handed down throughout the church age so that we might know the things to come.
God knew how to encourage John in his hour of need and visited him with a handful of revelation purpose...
How many great things has God revealed to His children while they were passing through trying times and circumstances!
I’m thankful today for those handfuls on purpose!
Notice also, there was...
A Work of Provision
A Work of Provision
Verse 16 reveals a beautiful picture of grace...
Back in chapter 1, Naomi and Elimelech had left Bethlehem because of the famine…A heart of disbelief sent them into the world, but the hope of bread had brought her back home.
God would more than meet her need. He would provide what they needed!
Ruth come to the field of Boaz in search of grain, and she wouldn’t leave empty-handed...
Think about this…Long before she ever made it to the field, the grain had been planted and the harvest was now ready.
God had made provision before she ever even arrived at the place of need.
Hey, long before we ever reached the place of spiritual hunger or sensed our need for the Lord, provision had been made for us…Long before we saw that we needed a Savior, Christ offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin!
Long before Calvary, God created that lonely little hill that He knew would be called Calvary!
Long before the cross, God created the sapling and provided the water and the sunshine for it to grow into the tree that would be used to make the old rugged cross!
There’s nothing we will ever face that is beyond our Lord’s ability to meet...
We will pick up at verse 17 next week with the Grateful Heart of Ruth…I believe we’re at a good stopping place tonight...